Renegade Royals
by CJzilla
Summary: What happens when another animal visits the zoo with "royal" staus? It doesn't help that this queenly Bird of Paradise has as much overconfidence as Julien. Bloodthirsty rivals, Julien and this female bird cannot stand the sight of each other. Julien/OC
1. News

Ohyaho to everyone from Tokyo to London! CJzilla here with her first venture into "The Penguins of Madagascar" archive. I enjoyed the series and this little plot popped into my head. Enjoy.

_Synopsis: King Julien XIII enjoys being the only animal with "royal" status. But what happens when another animal visits and is regarded as a "royalty"? It doesn't help that this Animal Ambassador is a queenly Bird of Paradise with as much overconfidence as Julien. The zoo can barely handle one big-headed lemur; how can they handle two creatures that believe they are royalty? Julien and this Bird of Paradise are bloodthirsty rivals and cannot stand the sight of each other. But as times passes, they start seeing each other in a different light. Julien/OC._

As I rampage all over this city, alls CJzilla has to roar is this: R&R! Love on me... Hate on me... I don't care.

**Disclaimer: CJzilla owns nothing of Madagascar, The Penguins of Madagascar or Dream Works. I do own your reviews and your sanity!**

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**_Renegade Royals_**

Chapter 1

_News_

Saturday, 1200 hours, the Central Park Zoo, New York, New York, USA. For a usually very busy day for the city's main zoo, the facility was closed. This was a special occasion for the zoo and personnel were running around preparing for the flood of visitors to come as soon as the doors opened. The animals noticed the difference between this Saturday and past weekends. Most were handling it well, barely even caring what the humans did, while others were just plain oblivious.

"Maurice! Dis statue is _not me_!" King Julien XIII barked from his throne as he lounged in the sun inside his fully furnished habitat. Maurice the Aye-aye and servant of the self-proclaimed ruler of all lemur kind, was toiling over a sculpture that his king had ordered.

"I am not much of an artist, highness." The shorter, stouter lemur returned, hands in "clay". "And this stuff isn't even clay! It's just leftover pudding from the cafeteria."

The spoiled Ring-tailed lemur groaned and flopped over on his stomach.

"Nonsense!" He returned, hand over his eyes so the sun didn't sting so bad. "Do not be so stingy, Maurice! Open up the sculptor that lies within your bowels."

Maurice sighed and dunked his hands back into the old pudding. King Julien wanted this sculpture to measure up to the Statue of Liberty and so Maurice was using a big New York brochure as reference. Just as Julien ordered, Maurice was to sculpt his likeness and foreshadow the green lady with the torch. The lemur was to be known as the king of the Big Apple. Maurice doubted whether Julien even knew what that meant, but whatever; he was here to serve the king. Thankfully, a distraction came. Mort… much to Julien's chagrin.

"King Julien! King Julien! I find more photos!" The little brown Goodman's Mouse lemur scampered into the lemur enclosure and up to the king of lemurs. Julien barely had time to look up when several zoo brochures were thrown onto him.

"Ack! Mort! What is the meaning of all this paper?!" The tall, lithe lemur floundered under the various brochures. Mort smiled, batting his big yellow eyes.

"Photos! Fresh from the trash for King Julien's sculpture!" The little lemur returned, hands in the air. Julien finally peeled himself out of the pile of photographs and jumped to his feet.

"Mort! BAD! I've all ready selected the photo which will be used in my statue." Julien proclaimed. As Mort was teetering on a loud, crybaby sob, his king quirked a brow at one of the zoo flyers. "What is dis?"

Julien grabbed a booklet and held it in front of him.

"Maurice!" He called to his right-hand man. "Read this to me!"

Maurice sighed, dropped his "clay" and trudged to Julien's side. With the brochure thrust into his face, the Aye-aye lemur was nearly pushed to the ground by his impatient king.

"It's so pretty but I, King Julien, will not stoop to reading." The tall Ring-tailed lemur waved his hand dismissively. "Maurice… if you please."

Maurice peeled the zoo booklet off of his face. His eyes widened.

"It's a brochure for an upcoming attraction at the zoo." He returned. Julien looked down at him.

"Well? What kind of attraction?" He looked at his nails.

Maurice read inside the pamphlet.

"For a famous Animal Ambassador that is supposed to be touring the world." Maurice answered, flicking through the pages. "Oh, cool! It says that this Ambassador is a Royal Bird of Paradise! And the exhibit is stopping here on her American Tour."

He heard Julien whirl around.

"_What_?" The lemur king hissed. "A bird? Ridiculous. There is nothing royal about birds. Filthy creatures that delight in their own odor."

"And this coming from a tick-eating branch of the primate tree?" Another voice cut through the conversation. The lemurs looked up to see the quartet of penguins leap onto Julien's throne room.

Julien rolled his golden eyes.

"Lemurs are _simians_, penguin. Different." The Ring-tailed lemur said unexcitedly. The leader of the quartet of flightless water birds, Skipper, stepped up to Julien.

"Same difference." The second shortest penguin smirked. "I've heard that this Bird of Paradise is darn-near to royalty. Treated like a queen wherever she goes."

""SHE"?" Julien looked disgusted. "This bird… is a _she_?"

The penguins nodded. The king lemur made a sickened face.

"That is just wrong on numerous measures of wrongness." Julien folded his arms defiantly.

"Her arrival is scheduled for today. In about an hour, the zoo will be packed with people." Skipper gave Julien a mocking smirk before turning to his team. "And you guys know what that means…"

The penguins smiled.

"Reconnaissance as well as a much needed distraction to the zoo patrons so that we may scout out this new comer." Kowalski rattled off in his usual thoughtful tone. Private flapped his flippers excitedly.

"I can't wait! I hear she puts on a good show!" The youngest penguin chirped in his soft British accent. The perked Julien's interest.

"Show? What kind of royalty puts on a show?" The Ring-tailed lemur looked at his fingernails defiantly. The penguins rolled their eyes.

"You're one to talk, Ring Tail." Skipper quirked a brow. "You throw a party every night, even when you're the only one having fun."

Mort and Maurice gave weary sighs since they were party "victims"; by royal decree, they were to "get down" with their king whenever the dancing bug hits him. Julien brushed his cheek with his fingernails.

"I am king; therefore there is a difference between my booty shaking parties and this so-called "royal" bird's show." He retorted indignantly, his nose in the air.

"But-…" Private began. "She hasn't even arrived yet. How could you know what her show is like?"

Julien laughed at the youngest penguin.

"I am king. I KNOW ALL!" He threw his hands in the air. "This, you should know by now."

Skipper groaned.

"Negatory, Julien." The lead penguin stuck a flipper in the lemur's face. "I bet my bottom right foot that a bird's show is better than yours!"

The lemur looked insulted.

"You are out of your tiny bird-brain's mind!" Julien shot back, tapping Skipper on the head. "No bird could be as awesome as me, king of all lemur kind!"

"Then show up at her royal appearance. Prove me wrong." Skipper dropped his flipper but narrowed his eyes at Julien. The lemur rolled his golden eyes.

"Why would _I_ show up at that creature's shindig?" Julien grunted. "It is beneath me to appear as a pity partier."

To his annoyance, he saw Skipper's beak spread into a mocking grin.

"That's a pile of fish heads, Ring Tail. You're just afraid of being showed up!" If Skipper was any less mature, he would have stuck out his tongue. The lemur stomped his foot and gave a childish scoff.

"I am NOT afraid of being showed inferior!" Julien barked back. Then he snapped his fingers. "Maurice! What is my schedule looking like today?"

The Aye-aye lemur zipped to his king's side and paged through a tiny clipboard.

"You're day is open save for the meeting in the gift shop but that's going to be after zoo hours." Maurice rattled off. Julien didn't break his stare from Skipper.

"I'll be there." The king lemur hissed. "And I will be sure to bring lots of "I-told-you-so" so that I may rub your overly-smug pecker-face into it!"

"In one hour, Ring Tail, _I_ will be accepting your apology." Skipper stuck his beak in the air. Julien smoldered.

"The king never apologizes because the king is _never_ wrong!" Julien snapped, standing rigid. Skipper enjoyed getting under the lemur's skin.

"Well mark this day down on your calendar because you will be eating those words." The lead penguin smirked. Then he turned to his team. "Let's move out, team. Our work as firestarters is done."

With sustained chuckles, the quartet of penguins exited the enclosure with military-like precision, leaving King Julien smoldering.

The tall Ring-tailed lemur stood there, glaring at the penguins as they left. Finally he cleaned his face and looked to Mort and Maurice.

"My charismatic reign has been threatened by this Bird of Paradise." Julien began pacing. "De penguins think that I am afraid! Ha! I laugh. There is no one as awesome and royal as I am! This bird will be proved lesser." He clapped his hands. "Maurice, Mort; I relieve you of toiling over my sculpture. From this moment forward, you will groom your king, within the hour confinement, until he beams with superiority!"

Mort cheered while Maurice fought off a shiver.

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Review. LONG LIVE ROCK!


	2. The New Royal on the Block

Hello everyone! CJzilla here with an update. In this chapter the animals meet the bird of paradise and Julien meets his new rival. Enjoy.

As I rampage all over this city, alls CJzilla has to roar is this: R&R! Love... hate... review.

**AN: This fanfiction will be updated randomly.**

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Chapter 2

_The New Royal on the Block_

As time grew short, the zoo staff was rushing around trying to get the last minuet decorations, souvenirs and seating taken care of. The Penguins, who had fled their enclosure, not that the preoccupied zookeepers cared, were getting comfortable in their A-list seats.

"You can see the whole stage from up here!" Private beamed as he and his team sat above and across the amphitheatre podium. They sat on the roof of and adjacent building; hidden from the humans but able to see the entire stage.

Kowalski, who sat next to him, was busy doodling on his paper tablet.

"Thus our appropriate position." The intelligent penguin voiced. "In order to take in as much information as possible on this Bird of Paradise, we need to sit high."

"Kowalski!" Skipper leaned back and looked at the tall penguin. "Tone down the massive brain power, huh? Our presence here must look like we are just care-free spectators looking for some entertainment."

Private quirked a brow.

"Why's that, Skipper?" The youngest penguin questioned. Skipper gave him one of his paranoid "the-world-isn't-a-field-of-innocent-daisies" look.

"Because, Private, the bird of paradise is an Animal Ambassador." The lead penguin returned. "She's been making appearances, showing humans the beauty and wonder of nature; possibly inspiring some children to care and nurture wildlife. But I'll bet my beak this is all a front for her real goal. Being an Animal Ambassador, she's been all over the world. With all that globetrotting, she's likely accumulated enough intel that could make or break a country. We will watch her like a hawk and if she pulls anything funny… we'll bust her and strip her for the backstabbing chicken she really is."

Kowalski and Skipper kept their eyes on the stage while Private made a face.

"She's a chicken?" The innocent penguin questioned. Skipper face-palmed.

"It's a metaphor, soldier!" The lead penguin barked. "If she's dirty, we'll be the first to know. Is that clear, Private?!"

The youngest penguin saluted.

"Sir, YES, sir!" Private stood at attention. Skipper returned his salute.

"At ease, soldier." The lead penguin ordered. "And remember: cute and cuddly. Rico! Binoculars!"

The psychotic knife wizard and explosive expert smacked his mouth before he regurgitated a pair of binoculars with a loud "HaaCK". Skipper caught them before they hit the ground and eased them to his eyes. The penguin eyed the stage, made marks of the doors and the seating for the humans. Then they heard the pat of feet on the roof.

"Can't you guys do anything without making it a covert military maneuver?" It was Marlene, the Asian Otter. Skipper took his eyes off of his binoculars and glared at the sensible semi-aquatic mammal female.

"Our maneuvers are the only thing that keeps you and this zoo on the map. If you knew half of the importance of our tactics, you'd never sleep again, _Marlene_." He huffed and returned his eyes to the binoculars.

Marlene set a webbed hand on her hip and sighed.

"That's nice, because from my vantage point, there is no method to this madness." She voiced sitting next to Rico. Skipper felt a sneer pull on his beak.

"To the untrained eye, maybe. But we are on a very important mission today." He answered. Marlene giggled.

"What? You four boys scoping out the newest female bird? I hear she's really pretty." The otter grinned. That got her looks from all the penguins.

"That's a "_no_" in big, red capital letters, Marlene." Skipper sneered and continued to observe the stage. Kowalski had a more informative answer.

"Birds though we be, she is a bird of paradise whereas WE are mere penguins." The smartest penguin remarked. "It just "wouldn't work out", as the humans say. You have to take into consideration the massive void in the gene pool, the fact that we are totally different species and the anatomical differences-"

Skipper interrupted Kowalski's mini lecture that was going places it shouldn't.

"We are men of action, not romance." The leader held to a straight face as he dropped his binoculars. Marlene gave him a big smile.

"Says the penguin with a bobble-head doll wife." She smirked. Skipper's face twisted with a full-on scowl.

"We are separated due to marital differences!" The penguin snapped. "That whole situation shows that my job isn't for a fainthearted female. Doll wanted my whole attention and that's something I cannot give."

Marlene found his depth of psychosis unbearably funny but she held in her laugh so as not to hurt his feelings. Just then they heard a trumpet sound; if you call Maurice vocalizing through an empty paper-towel roll was a trumpet. As the silent and watching penguins plus Marlene looked on, the Aye-aye lemur marched toward them, lowered his paper-towel roll and cleared his throat.

"Introducing the amazing, illustrious, big-hearted, unbearably handsome, constipated-" Maurice began.

"Consecrated!" Julien shouted from out of eyesight. The penguins and Marlene stifled laughter.

"-I mean _consecrated_ KING of all lemurs… King Julien XIII!" Maurice corrected. He stepped to the side, motioning to Julien's entrance point.

Then Mort, the Goodman's Mouse lemur came prancing into sight, throwing flower petals to the ground. Then both he and Maurice rushed back to their king. After a round of strained grunts, Maurice and Mort carried Julien's very gaudy mobile throne into view.

"Looks like Ring Tail's been busy." Skipper voiced, seeing that his portable throne was twice the size of his normal one. Marlene rolled her eyes.

"And the welcome wagon to the Central Park Zoo just would not be complete without Julien is giving his own unique style of _crazy_ to the opening ceremony." The otter gestured shaking her head.

"That thing looks top heavy." Kowalski quipped. "There's an access of pompous big-headedness tipping it."

The five snickered, trying to stifle a bigger laugh. But Julien heard them.

"Mock if you will, birds and otter, but this is the only way that a king shall make an entrance." The Ring-tailed lemur dared not stick his nose in the air, lest his enormous and showy crown fall off of his head. Skipper stood.

"The show hasn't even started, Ring Tail!" The lead penguin gestured. "With that ginormous thing, you're going to give our position away to the humans! We'll all be sent back to our pens with reduced rations!"

Julien looked unconcerned.

"Being sighted with de eyeballs is what I want, silly bird." The lemur returned, looking at his nails. "This "royal" bird must know that I am king and that she is substandard."

Marlene quirked a brow.

"Isn't that a little harsh seeing that you've never even met her before?" The otter questioned. Julien had a smug look on his face.

"I am just making sure that all my little duckies are filed so that all my buttocks is sheltered." The lemur rattled off smiling. Even Kowalski was stumped with that.

"Translation please." Skipper barked looking annoyed. Maurice and Mort finally hauled the large portable throne to the penguins and otter.

"What the illustrious king means is that he wants to just make sure that he is not questioned as ruler." Maurice panted before he collapsed in exhaustion. Mort was squished under the throne.

The Penguins and Marlene mutually rolled their eyes.

"Maurice! Do not be lazy! I must be comfortable yet visible from a great distance!" Julien clapped his hands. "Move dis bucket to my proper place."

Maurice and Mort gave pained groans.

Minuets later, after Maurice and Mort dragged Julien's mobile throne into the king's preferred seat, the animals were watching the excited people file into the amphitheater. The turn out was unexpected. The zoo was PACKED to the brim. The other animals were awed while Julien felt jealousy bubble inside of him.

"Why did not these thumb-sucking primates show the REAL king, _ME_, such treatment?!" The Ring-tailed lemur gestured, his head free of his heavy and gaudy crown. He slumped in his chair, rapping his fingers on his armrest.

Maurice was immediately on damage control.

"Well, you did make a much humbler entrance, king Julien." The Aye-aye lied through a smile. "Such a modest act shows that you are far less arrogant that this bird of paradise."

"King Julien is the most humblest king of all lemurs Mort has ever known!" Mort chirped. Julien seemed slightly pacified by his helpers' comments.

The Ring-tailed lemur looked down at the penguins and Asian otter.

"And neither did any of you give me such a proper welcome." Julien pointed down at them. The Penguins ignored him while Marlene felt that she should say something.

"I'm still speechless that the _king_ of all lemurs found his way to MY zoo. I live to bask only in your glory." The female otter lied through her teeth. Julien gave a smile.

"Yes. I am quite a sight to see." He leaned back into his chair. Marlene wiped her brow, grateful that she avoided Julien's wrath.

But then she noticed that Mort was glaring at her.

"I am de only one to bask in King Julien's glory!" The tiny lemur growled, a dangerous look in his big yellow eyes. Then he dragged his finger over this throat; the classic "throat slash" sign.

Marlene gave the little lemur a wary look before looking back to the stage.

"Something's happening down there!" Skipper exclaimed. "We've got movement from the zookeepers!"

Sure enough, Alice the zookeeper came walking out on the stage. Her normal outgoing and grating persona was taken by crippling stage fright. The red-headed zookeeper gave a nervous wave to the large crowd. Clearing her throat she tapped her ear-microphone.

"Testing… testing? 1, 2, 3; testing!" Alice said into the microphone. The crowd and animals flinched at the blare from the surrounding speakers. "Oh, hi. My name is Alice and-" She dug into her pocket and pulled out some flashcards with her lines written on them. "And it gives me great pleasure to introduce an Animal Ambassador that is known the world over. Born on the exotic isles of Papua New Guinea, this bird represents the beauty and grace of her species. She has traveled the world, visiting over fifty countries!"

Julien felt a sneer curl onto his face.

"The moon is a country! Send this harpy bird _there_!" He shouted down to the zookeeper, jumping on his seat. Rico and Skipper barely had time to tackle the lemur and dive for cover before Alice brought her eyes to their vantage point.

The paranoid zookeeper gave the building roof a quick glance before continuing with her lines.

"We are very proud to host such a magnificent bird here at our Central Park Zoo." Alice continued. The animals peeked over the ledge as Skipper took his flipper off of Julien's mouth.

"_Zip_ the lip before we're caught, Ring Tail!" The leader penguin snapped. Private called to him.

"Skipper! They're moments away from bringing her out!" The youngest penguin chirped and pointed. Skipper gasped and zipped back to his vantage point.

Julien scrambled for his throne.

"Maurice! My _crown_! HURRY!" He rushed. Mort and Maurice clamored for the large crow, but had some trouble getting the heavy thing up to the lemur king.

"So without further ado-" Alice gestured toward the door. The crown was nearly on Julien's head. "I present to you, the wonderful, the royal, the beautiful…-" Finally Maurice and Mort set the crown onto Julien's melon.

"Maneuver "Penguins Next Door"!" Skipper barked. The penguins broke out popcorn, stuffing their binoculars into their bags.

Alice took a big breath.

"Sheeeeeeeba the Bird of _Paradise_!" As the crowd cheered, a bird flew out of the left side of the stage.

At first you couldn't really see her but once she soared over the crowd and extended her wings, the true beauty of the bird of paradise was seen. The crowd cheered as the animals' jaws hit the floor. The bird of paradise gave a jovial laugh at the thunderous applause. She flew just above the heads of the crowd, letting them see her glorious feathers. Then she landed on the roof of the amphitheatre, where everyone could see her.

"Yes! Yes! _LOVE_ me!" She cheered into the air, spreading her wings and closing her eyes, letting the applause sound over her. Suddenly music boomed through the speakers.

The bird of paradise began dancing to the music.

"Shake your tail feathers for your queen! C'mon! Do it with me, my subjects!" She shouted to the crowd, turning her back and shaking her long tail feathers. The people jumped out of their chairs and began dancing.

The whole amphitheater was jumping with activity. Dancing, music and laughter bounced the zoo. The bird of paradise laughed as she took to the air, flying over the people.

"Queen Sheba is in the _house_!" She cheered.

Then something caught her eye. It was the group of animals sitting at the top of a nearby building. Sheba grinned and flew closer. As she swooped by, giving them a close look of her long tail feathers. The animals applauded, much to Julien's distain. Finally, after working up the crowd, the music stopped and Sheba landed on Alice's arm. The crowd was going nuts, cheering like they'd lost their minds. Sheba took a couple bows, blowing kisses all around. Alice gestured for the crowd to calm and the amphitheatre was suddenly quiet.

"Sheba is a beautiful example of the wonder of her species." The zookeeper began, carrying on with a lecture over the bird of paradise. "Birds of paradise build their nests out of soft materials such as leaves and ferns. A mating pair of the size of Sheba here produces only one egg at a time."

But up on the building, some were not as thrilled to have such a famous bird at the zoo.

"She gets her own _music_?" King Julien gaped. "And dancing from de crowd?"

Maurice and Mort saw a freak out coming on.

"Uh… It's just part of the promotion for the zoo… They-… uh play that song all the time…?" Maurice readily replied, hoping to calm the lemur king down. Julien looked down at his right-hand man with a glare.

He wasn't buying it and returned his golden eyes to Alice and the bird on her arm.

"Look how pretty she is." Marlene awed. "It makes me wish that I had feathers."

"Being a bird is far harder than it looks, Marlene." Skipper immediately corrected. The otter rolled her eyes.

"You know what I mean, Skipper. But just look at her colors!" Marlene gestured. "She's got the look!"

It was true, Sheba was very beautiful. She was covered in vibrant purples and greens; her tail feathers had to be three and a half feet long and were bursting with all hues of greens and purple. Her plumes were glossy and well kempt. Her eyes were of the darkest brown, twinkling as she held the crowd's attention. Sheba was gorgeous and she knew it. So did others.

Julien shot out of his throne.

"She's _not_ all that great!" The lemur snapped at Marlene. "All of those feathers are obviously _fake_! MY coat is _ten_ times as glossy and soft."

He brushed his tail. Skipper and the other penguins rolled their eyes.

"Whatever makes you sleep at night, Ring Tail." The lead penguin returned, popping popcorn into his mouth. Julien was speeding closer and closer to a freak out.

"Uh… she doesn't have a crown like yours, your majesty!" Maurice smiled, trying his best to calm the lemur.

"Oh, I didn't notice." He gave a smile. Then he snarled, his black and white tail bristling. "Because I was TOO busy STARING AT HER BEAUTIFUL FEATHERS!"

Unfortunately for Julien, his little tantrum carried his voice to Sheba's ears. The female bird of paradise perked her head up and smiled.

"You're too kind, darlings!" Sheba called back up to the animals. "Really!"

The bird waved at them. The penguins, Marlene and Maurice and Mort waved back. Julien gritted his teeth.

"Nice extensions of feathers, you painted _pheasant_!" The Ring-tailed lemur shouted down to Sheba, his fur bristled. "De insides of _pillows_ have prettier plumes than you!"

The bird of paradise blinked, taken aback by the lemur as soon as she acknowledged that he was speaking to her. One look and Sheba knew that he was going to be trouble. Feeling that this lemur merited an insult, she frowned slightly.

"And what's that on your head, sir?" Sheba shot back. "Did you make it yourself or did you steal it from a garbage can?"

"It's my kingly _crown_!" Julien snarled, his back arched like a cat's. "I am _king_ of dis zoo and I will not giving it up without a fight!"

Sheba studied him for a second and then turned up her beak.

"Talk to the backside, raccoon." The bird returned. She maneuvered on Alice's arm so that her back was facing the animals.

Julien was livid.

"_Lemur_! I AM A LEMUR, you _blind_-!" The ring-tailed lemur was cut off when Alice's eyes caught sight of his hopping-mad fit. The animals gasped.

"We've been _spotted_!" Private gasped.

"SPOTTED!" Rico clapped his flippers on his face. Skipper slapped his forehead as he saw Alice take a walkie-talkie from her belt and report them to her fellow zookeepers.

"Ring Tail!" The lead penguin shot at Julien. "You just alerted the keepers to our presence! You and your frilly crown are on your own!"

Skipper grabbed Marlene by the paw as he motioned for his team to scatter.

"Report back to base, team! The show's over!" He called. With military-like precision, the penguins zipped out of sight with Marlene in tow.

Suddenly the lemurs were all alone. Maurice, as usually, was the voice of reason to Julien.

"Uh, your highness?" The Aye-aye spoke up. "We need to get while the gettin's good."

The ring-tailed lemur shot Maurice a glare.

"My kingship is threatened and you want to RUN like little babies?!" Julien seethed. The Aye-aye shook his head.

"Um… We'll run with our heads held _high_." Maurice replied with an uneasy smile. Julien's eye twitched.

"I will _not_ retreat in front of that ruffled _turkey_!" He barked, pointing at Sheba, who was currently ignoring him. "I am KING! I will leave when I so please!"

The Aye-aye looked at the mouse lemur at his side.

"Well, it's either running or getting hog-tied and stuffed in gunny sacks in front of the crowd, highness." Maurice voiced. Julien glanced at him.

"And how do you know they will tie us like hogs and stuff us in sacks made out of gunny?" He returned in an indignant sort of way. Maurice pointed up.

The ring-tailed lemur didn't have time to follow his servant's finger when a big animal net was thrown over them. Julien, Maurice and Mort were hauled off of the building by the zookeepers, kicking and screaming.

"THIS ISN'T OVER! NOT BY THE LONGEST OF SHOTS!" Julien shouted down to Sheba. The bird of paradise turned and watched the mouthy lemur get dragged off of the roof in a net.

A smile cracked on her face.

"Hail to the queen, baby." Sheba smirked before opening her wings. The crowd cheered as the gorgeous bird strutted her stuff.

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Review. LONG LIVE ROCK!


	3. Meeting The Spoiled Royal

Hello everyone! CJzilla here with another update. In this chapter, the animals get a chance to meet Sheba and there is another royal showdown between King Julien and this bird of paradise. Enjoy.

As I rampage over this city, alls CJzilla has to roar is this: R&R! Love... Hate... Review.

**AN: Ironically, MALE birds of paradise are the most colorful but FEMALE lemurs rule over lemur clans. So... there are some little quirks with my character and those of the show. I just thought I'd let you all know that. Also, there is a lot of dialog in this chapter, not very many paragraphs. Look forward to scrolling a lot. Sorry.**

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Chapter 3

_Meeting The Spoiled Royal_

Later that evening, the Penguins and Marlene were waiting in the zoo's gift shop, affectionately called the "Zoovenirs Shop". King Julien arranged a zoo meeting for tonight. The reason? No one ever really knows. But with Julien, the animals could bet that it was pretty much petty and insignificant.

"What do you think Julien has in store for us now?" Marlene, the Asian otter, looked at her nails from on top of a shelf full of zoo coffee mugs. Skipper, the leader of a quartet of highly trained penguins, gave a laugh.

"I really don't care, just as long as I see the look on his royal, smug face." Skipper gave a sick grin. "He was manhandled in front of the Animal Ambassador! He made more of a fool of himself than usual."

The penguin gave a creepy, amused laugh. Marlene shook her head.

"I'm thinking it's about his little pet peeve of being interrupted when he's talking." The otter continued. "What do you guys think?"

She was looking at Kowalski, Rico and Private. Rico was trying on shirts, Kowalski was paging through a catalog and Private was playing with the stuffed hippo plushies.

"When is that ring-tailed lemur's appointments ever about something that is truly important?" The smartest penguin replied. "I'm going to go out on the proverbial limb and say that this meeting has been arranged just so that Julien could rant about some piques in his little fantasy world."

"PIQUE! PIQUE!" Rico shouted, under a mound of shirts.

"I kind of agree with Skipper." Private was riding on a stuffed hippo. "I'm interested in what Julien's mood is in after being utterly embarrassed."

"Knowing Ring Tail…" Skipper called up to his teammate. "I bet you he's placing blame on everyone but himself."

"And I could only speculate that Sheba has the most of the lemur's rile." Kowalski voiced, flicking another page of the catalog. "Blast it! There is nothing in here that stimulates the brain!"

Skipper gave a chuckle. Marlene dropped down from her coffee mug shelf.

"I can't believe how much you are enjoying this, Skipper." She told the penguin, cocking her hip at him. "To Julien, this is a big deal!"

The leader penguin gave her a twisted grin.

"For all the aggravation he's brought to this zoo, it's about time we watch Julien squirm." Skipper returned, looking smug. "Well, I could thank that bird of paradise for being as flashy as he is!"

Jut then they heard the beat of wings through the open window. Everyone looked up to see Sheba, the bird of paradise, fly into the gift shop.

"Oh! Thank you so much darling!" The female bird flashed everyone a big showman smile. "Flashy is my royal style! I can't help it if my radiant beauty makes others feel insecure."

It seemed that the male penguins were momentarily stunned and all they did was flap their mouths like gasping fish. Marlene slapped her forehead and stepped forward.

"Hi! I'm Marlene and I'd like to welcome you to our zoo!" The female Asian otter welcomed. Sheba gave a big, excited smile.

"Why thank you for welcoming me to your humble little abode!" She chirped in reply, floating to the floor on rainbow-colored wings. "It's not as… fine as the one in England or Beijing or India but I do LOVE it!"

Sheba then noticed the gaping Skipper next to Marlene.

"Is there something wrong with him?" She whispered to the otter. Marlene sighed.

"A little brain freeze." And she snapped her fingers in front of Skipper's eyes. "Skipper! You're being rude!"

The lead penguin broke out of his stare and cleaned his face.

"Hello fellow bird." Skipper greeted in his awkward military way. "Top notch show today. We couldn't look away."

The bird of paradise looked flattered.

"Thank you! And what's your name?" Sheba chirped. Skipper gave her his cocky, easy-like grin.

"My name is Skipper. Allow me to introduce my team." He then raised a flipper. "Men! Fall in."

From all corners of the store, Kowalski, Private and Rico assembled beside their leader. Sheba looked so pleased.

"How fun! I simply _adore_ penguins!" She gave a big grin. Then Sheba leaned into Private. "What's your name, Cutie?"

Private's black and white feathers flashed to red and black; he blushed deeply.

"I'm Private." He peeped, looking at his feet. "Special operations."

Sheba was just smiling ear to ear as she looked over to the others. Kowalski saluted her.

"Kowalski! Tactics expert, ma'am!" The tall penguin chirped. Rico gave a grunt as he saluted.

Sheba looked between the crazy look in his eyes, his tongue wildly hanging out of his mouth and the large scar running down the left side of his face. She cocked a brow and waited for him to say something.

"This is Rico." Skipper told her. "He's our weapons expert. He doesn't say much, but this team wouldn't be complete without him."

The bird of paradise smiled at Rico before she looked over the odd bunch of animals in front of her.

"Simply fantastic!" Sheba opened her wings, dazzling them. "I can tell that I'm going to have a _ball_ here! Your city is so big and everyone's so nice! That zookeeper with the bad breath is cleaning out my cage as we speak. She came recommended."

At that moment, in swung Mason and Phil, the chimpanzees. Sheba turned to them. As soon as they saw her, Phil bowed and Mason tipped his head in respect.

"Ah! Here are the two fine primates that suggested the zookeeper for lower chores." She beamed. Phil began signing in American Sign Language and Mason translated.

"Alice is cleaning the leaves out of your temporary enclosure, Queen Sheba." Mason answered. Sheba brightened.

"Spectacular!" The bird of paradise beamed.

"Wait… You got _Alice_ to clean out your cage?" Marlene questioned. Sheba blinked.

"If that is the human female's name, yes. A clean cage is a good cage." The beautiful bird responded with a smile. "It must be meticulously cleaned to be fit for a queen."

Skipper stepped up to the bird of paradise.

"Are you really royalty, Miss Sheba?" The penguin asked. Sheba opened her wings and flew to the tallest display in the store.

"Indeed, Skipper!" She beamed. "I am Queen Sheba! Royalty of the birds of paradise! Back home in New Guinea, I am at the top of the pecking order! Everyone waits on the sound of my voice, the fluff of my feathers. If I am pleased, my subjects are pleased."

Skipper turned to his friends and gave them a scared look. If Sheba REALLY was royalty… she could be just as much trouble as Julien!

"I'd like to thank all of you for attending my welcoming ceremony this afternoon!" Sheba went on. "By your attendance, you've shown that you are willing to service me during my stay here. I'd like to assure all of you that no matter your talents, I can put them to good use."

The animals face-palmed. She WAS like Julien!

"_Why_?" Skipper dropped to his knees. "Not _another_ royal pain!"

"Groveling. Thank you for your admiration, Skipper!" Sheba saw him on his knees. "In the future, I require a little more sniveling with your groveling. Thanks, dear."

Skipper scowled and got to his feet.

"Listen here! We-!" And then Marlene slammed her hand over Skipper's beak.

"Don't!" The otter whispered into his ear. "She's an Animal Ambassador! She's doing animals all over the earth a favor. Just… just be polite."

Skipper glared at the otter before he gave a stiff nod.

"I mean… thank you, Queen Sheba." He choked out, his face twisted with anger. The bird of paradise gave a regal grin.

"I _love_ the can-do attitude of penguins!" Sheba said. "Now, I do have human servants but since this is a new city to me, I'd like a volunteer to show me around the zoo."

She looked for hands. The penguins weren't moving without an official order from Skipper. Skipper wasn't feeling THAT polite. Marlene raised her paw.

"I'll show you around, Sheba." The otter volunteered. "I'd be happy to give you a tour!"

Sheba nodded.

"Thank you, otter. I look forward to my insider's tour!" The female bird grinned. Then she looked around. "Now, I was informed that this little get-together was arranged for some announcements. Who in particular is announcing?"

The animals looked at each other.

"King Julien called us here-" Mason began. Immediately he silenced when he saw the look on Sheba's face.

"_King_?" She hissed, her feathers poofing. "There is no other royal one here but me! Show me this pretentious pretender!"

"Well, you've all ready… _met_ him, Queen Sheba." Private voiced carefully. Sheba looked confused.

And as if on cue, the door squeaked open and in walked the lemurs. They looked roughed up, but Julien looked still angry. In the three lemurs came, looking at the normal meeting attendees, not even noticing Sheba perched up on a display.

"Greetings _loyal_ subjects!" Julien gave an angry smile. "I'm happy that all of you got away while I was jostled by the keepers of the zoo! It took Maurice two hours to comb the human smell out of my buttery fur!"

The animals were strangely silent. Private looked back up at Sheba and pointed to Julien.

"This is King Julien, Queen Sheba." The youngest penguin answered. Julien blinked at the penguin.

"Who are you speaking to? I know that I am King Julien! Who-?" Julien then heard a mocking laugh from above.

"Oh, yes." Craning upwards the ring-tailed lemur saw the bird of paradise giving him a ridiculing smile from atop a display. "The rude crybaby."

Julien's tail bristled as his fur rose off of his back.

"_Who_… invited the colorful turkey?!" He hissed at the other animals. They all shook their heads.

"As true royalty, Mr. Raccoon, I make it a note to be present for ALL local meetings." Sheba fluffed her wings. "No matter _who_ is holding them."

She gave him a dirty look. Julien was smoldering.

"I am a _lemur_, you undesirable _pest_!" He snarled. "And I am _RIGHTFUL_ ruler here!"

Sheba's eyed narrowed dangerously as she descended from her perch. Landing on the floor, the bird of paradise walked over to Julien and looked him in the eye; they were at the same height.

"How _dare_ you disrespect me!" The female bird glared at him. "I am _Queen_ Sheba!"

"And I am _King_ Julien XIII!" The ring-tailed lemur gestured to himself. "You are in _MY_ kingdom! And I demand the sincerest of apologies out of your _heart_!"

Sheba scoffed loudly, not believing what she as hearing.

"I shall _not_ apologize to _YOU_!" She growled. "You insulted me and you were rightfully dragged off in a net. Fitting treatment for someone so crude, boorish and impersonates _royalty_!"

Julien gritted his teeth.

"I have a crown!" He pointed to the leafy crown on his head. "Which shows my right to rule, _straight up_!"

Sheba gave a smirk.

"I do too." She stuck her head in his face. On top of her head was an assortment of short feathers that formed in the shape of a tiara. "And mine is natural. Yours is not."

The lemur was near to a freak out.

"I have an advisor and lackey!" Julien pointed at Maurice and Mort. "Where are your mules of burden, chickadee?!"

Sheba flicked her tail and turned up her beak.

"My human servants are standing on one foot outside of my cage." The bird of paradise returned. "Humans are better than others because they have money and have internet shopping accounts. They will get me whatever I wish. It is merely a word away."

The lemur and female bird of paradise glowered at each other.

"I have an internet account." Kowalski raised his flipper. Sheba looked over at him.

She smiled sweetly and walked over to him.

"Mmm. You're internet savvy?" She questioned giving a flirty smile. Kowalski nodded. "I have an opening in my entourage. You wanna travel the world with a queen?"

"Kowalski's not for sale, your queenliness. None of my team is." Skipper immediately cut in. Sheba pouted.

"HA!" Julien exclaimed. Sheba's eye twitched.

"Very well." She turned, brushing the penguins' chins with her tail feathers. Sheba was losing interest in everything. "Now, what type of announcements are to be given? I have to get a facial before I go to sleep and I don't want YOUR face to be in my nightmares tonight!"

She gave Julien a snotty glare. The lemur king was rigid with anger.

"I am announcing a degree that no one is to interrupt the king as I speak. Because I am _KING_ of dis zoo, I can make such declarations!" The lemur growled, seeing Sheba turn her back to him and disinterestedly look at the gift shop knickknacks "And that goes double _double_ for you, you frilly pigeon!"

Sheba looked over the store with a sigh.

"Oh! Did you say something, Mr. Raccoon?" She asked, deliberately insulting him. As school-yard and as petty as that was, it immediately bored itself under Julien's skin.

"You are _all_ around unpleasant, you dressed up parrot!" He barked back. "I am a _LEMUR_!"

Sheba shot him a glare.

"Refer to me as Queen Sheba for now on and I will refrain from calling you by a wrong animal." She hissed. Julien stomped his foot.

"I'd sooner jump off of something very high!" He returned. Sheba stalked over to him.

"You are a rude squirrel with a strange accent, a fake crown and bad fur!" The female bird frowned at him.

"And you are a repulsive, painted harpy with extensions of feathers who is not and _never _will be royalty!" Julien growled. The bird of paradise looked angry.

"I've suffered enough here." Sheba turned up her nose. Then she looked out at the other animals. "If you are willing to be my friends, you will no mention head or tail of this raccoon. He sickens me and I never wish to see his face again."

Julien turned up his nose and pouted along with her.

"And if I see anyone collaborating with this feathered viper, I will have them flogged and dropped into de kangaroo's pen." The ring-tailed lemur threatened. Sheba whirled around.

"Who's a feathered viper you frizzy crybaby?!" She snarled.

"Fancy chicken!" Julien fired back.

And a war of insults and yelling match commenced. The other animals watched on, interested to see who was going to back down first. Then Sheba huffed, turning on Julien, her large tail feathers knocking off his crown.

"I will not remain here _any_ longer!" She proclaimed, opening her wings and flying to the window. "I shall see all of you, except for the loud-mouthed, googly-eyed _raccoon_, tomorrow!"

And with that, the bird of paradise left the gift store.

"Oh, yeah?!" Julien called after her. "I won't see you tomorrow! Because you're ridiculously annoying!"

Silence cut through the room as the ring-tailed lemur steamed. Julien stood there, glaring at the window, looking angry enough to chew bricks. Maurice picked up Julien's crown.

"Uh… King-?" The aye-aye was about to tap his king on the shoulder when his hand was swatted away.

"Don't touch me!" Julien snarled snatching his crown. He was in such a huff, that he put his crown on backwards. "I wish to go home. RIGHT NOW!"

The ring-tailed lemur stomped out of the store, followed by his aye-aye advisor and Goodman's mouse lemur lackey. The animals were left in the now silent Zooveinre store.

"Wow. That was… intense." Marlene voiced. Skipper simply smiled.

"Well, I've got good news and bad news." The lead penguin began. "The good news is that Julien's met his match. But the bad news is that we're stuck in the middle of this."

"What do we do, Skipper?" Private questioned. Skipper turned to his tactics expert.

"Kowalski! Options." He barked out. Kowalski flipped through his magically obtained clipboard.

"I could build a machine that tones down strong personalities and use Julien and Sheba as guinea pigs." The smart penguin rattled off. Skipper shook his head.

"Something that does not infect the entire area with radioactivity." The lead penguin answered. Kowalski flipped another page.

"We kidnap them, gag them and then mail them to different, obscure zoos in Wisconsin." He answered.

"That wouldn't work. The postage would _kill_ us!" Skipper returned. Kowalski flicked another page.

"We could transfer zoos." Kowalski added.

"No dice. The paperwork would take forever." The lead penguin stated. Kowalski shrugged.

"That's all I have, sir." He voiced. Marlene gave a groan.

"Here's a thought… why don't we do some damage control?" The female otter reasoned. "I'll take Sheba since she is a girl and you boys take Julien. We just have to convince them to give each other a chance."

Skipper gave her a wide-eyed look.

"_Whoa_, Marlene!" He gestured. "We're animals, not miracle workers! The way those two were at each other's throats, they wouldn't even want to _smell_ each other again."

Marlene folded her arms.

"Well, it's either that or we stay in the middle of this royal crossfire." The otter frankly stated. "I don't know about you guys, but I want my freedom back. The only way I can think of is getting Sheba and Julien to become friends; or at least on good terms."

Skipper turned to his team.

"Marlene may have a thought here, team." He said. "We have to prevent this little squabble from becoming a full fledged war of the royals. Which means we will have to do some peace keeping. But keep in mind that we have to keep your original objective in the forefront." Skipper looked at Private. "Sheba seems fond of you, soldier. You will talk to her and find out what you can."

Private's head sunk between his shoulders.

"Me?! _Talk_ to her? But sir! I can't!" The youngest penguin responded, nervous all ready. Skipper slapped him.

"You CAN, Private!" He told him. "Ask her questions, schmooze her. Sheba's showed tonight that she has a busy mouth when you flatter her."

Marlene stepped between them and looked at Skipper.

"She's NOT some battle-savvy enemy!" The otter put a finger on his chest. "You can see that she's spoiled rotten. The most plotting she likely does is her next spa session!"

Skipper gave her a glare.

"We don't know what she's capable of. I intend to find out if she is truly as simple-minded as she led us to believe tonight." The penguin pointedly returned. Then he looked at Private. "Your mission is as simple as it is dangerous. Find out what Sheba knows."

Private swallowed and gave a shaky salute. Marlene face-palmed.

"FINE!" She exclaimed. "Private can come with me and Sheba on our tour tomorrow. But I guarantee you, there's not much going on inside her head."

Kowalski put a hand on Private's shoulder.

"You are going into the belly of the beast, my friend." The tall penguin told his comrade. "The highest and mightiest fear to do what you are about to do."

Mason gave a shudder.

"I agree." The chimp voiced. "Talking to women. I would rather take on a battalion of knife wielding ninjas _naked_ than try to get inside a woman's head."

Private quivered, giving a squeak of fear. Marlene looked up at Mason.

"Okay… _RUN_ that by me again." The female otter gave him and Kowalski a threatening glare. Mason glanced at Phil.

"Perhaps I've said too much." And both chimpanzees made a hasty retreat.

"AND YOU'RE ALL READY NAKED!" Marlene shouted after them. When she turned to chew out Kowalski, she found that the Penguins were gone. "MEN!"

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Review. LONG LIVE ROCK!


	4. This Means War

Hello everyone! CJzilla here with another update! In this chapter, Sheba is getting comfortable in the zoo and the animals are wary. How much longer until push comes to shove and Julien and Sheba trade blows? Enjoy.

As I rampage all over this city, alls CJzilla has to roar is this: R&R! Love... Hate... Review.

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Chapter 4

_This Means War_

The next morning, the animals were awoken by the sounds of construction. The noise even carried through the bowels of the penguin habitat and to Skipper's ears. The screech of a drill shocked the leader of the quartet of penguins out of sleep.

"Holy mother of-!" BLAM! Skipper slammed his head on the top of his concrete bunk.

Skipper tumbled out of his top bunk and smacked the floor. By that time the rest of the penguins, Rico, Kowalski and Private were on their feet and wide awake. Immediately Rico and Kowalski jumped on Private, plugging his ears so he couldn't hear their leader's colorful language as he held his head. Skipper danced around their underground base, cursing and holding his face. Finally, but with a flipper clapped on his head, he turned to his team.

"Game time boys!" Skipper commanded. "Something's going down! Upstairs! Move! Move!"

The four flightless birds zipped up the ladder and popped out on the surface of their enclosure. Blinking and adjusting their eyes to the morning sun, the penguin's mouths dropped to the ground. Zoo staff was busy constructing a HUGE cage around a tree, on the other side of the gift shop.

"What in the glorified name of the marching penguins is going on?" Skipper grunted in confusion. Then they heard a little laugh from above and to the right of them.

"Good morning my penguin subjects!" Craning around, the quartet of penguins saw Queen Sheba, the royal bird of paradise, perched on a light just outside of their home. The beautiful green and purple gave a jovial laugh before gliding down to them.

Private froze, still nervous to know that he had to spend as much time as he could with the beautiful yet flashy female bird. But Sheba approached Skipper and gave him a smile.

"I have to say, black and white never gets old." She said. "We're both birds of style."

Sheba opened her wings in another showy display of her feathers. Skipper felt his eyebrow twitch. It was too early to play polite and patient with this spoiled female bird.

"What's with the boom boom bang?" He cut to the chase. "It's coming from your side of the zoo."

Sheba gave him an exuberant smile.

"I've ordered construction of my temporary living quarters to begin, Mr. Skipper." The bird of paradise nodded at the quickly assembling cage. "Depending on how much these zoo keepers love their queen, my royal digs should be ready by nighttime."

Skipper looked over Sheba's shoulder and saw that her cage was all ready two stories tall and growing. Blinking, the lead penguin looked back at the female bird.

"Extending your stay, queenie?" Skipper asked less politely, folding his flippers. Sheba laughed and fluffed her feathers.

"Queenie? How cute! I love it!" She responded. "But no. My flight from Bengal was delayed yesterday so when I arrived, there was no time to set up my quarters. Today my human servants will have to catch up on lost time. I expect to only remain here for two days more. Can you _believe_ I had to spend the night in a dreadful room inside the reptile house?"

Skipper refrained from rolling his eyes while Kowalski jumped in.

"I hear those are accommodations are quite nice. Heated baths, foliage and around-the-clock care." The brainy penguin voiced. But then he saw the look on Sheba's face. "But… uh, nothing suited for a queen, your majesty."

"Nice save, Kowalski." Skipper whispered back at the tallest penguin.

Sheba gave an aggravated groan as she started pacing.

"It was simply DISGUSTING!" Sheba carried on. "It was muggy, smelt like mulch and my bath had no mineral water in it! I was forced to perch on a tree that blocked my view! And then there was this boa constrictor in the pen across from me that couldn't stop _talking_ to me! He kept telling me how beautiful my feathers were and how he'd never seen anything like me before-"

Skipper's eyes widened.

"Whoa! Whoa! Constrictor? Did he have orange, brown, black and tan scales?" The lead penguin gave her a firm look. Sheba, though interrupted, nodded. "That's Crazy Calvin. STAY away from him, queenie. He's constantly on the prowl for a hapless meal. He's made a crack at most of the zoo keepers here, including most of the animals that are within his range."

The bird of paradise swallowed as her brown eyes grew large.

"I see…" Sheba breathed, wing clapped to her chest. "Then it is a great thing that they are setting up my quarters! I wish not to see that lesser pen again."

She huffed before cleaning her face.

"To get my mind off of my lousy night, I wish to start my tour as soon as possible." Sheba looked up. "Do you penguins know where the otter resides? She is to give me a tour today."

Skipper felt an irritated frown tug on his beak.

"Her name is Marlene and she lives a stone's throw from us." He pointed a flipper to two enclosures down and one across from them. Then he pushed Private into the open. "Private will show you."

Once in front of Sheba, Private's head sunk between his shoulders and he swallowed loudly. Sheba, on the other hand, was enthralled.

"Good morning, Private!" She gave him a big smile. "You look even cuter in the daylight."

Again Private's black and white plumage turned red and black.

"Come then!" The bird of paradise opened her wings and flapped them. "I wish to start right now!"

The penguins watched her glide up to a light pole and wait for Private. Private whirled around to Skipper.

"Don't MAKE me, Skipper!" The youngest penguin grabbed his leader by the shoulders and shook him. Skipper slapped him again.

"Get it together, man!" The lead penguin snapped. "Do just as I instructed you last night. Flatter her but make sure she talks. We need to know what she knows!"

"Private!" Sheba called down to the penguin in a singsong voice. Private looked like someone dropped an electric eel down his throat.

"We salute you, Private." Skipper saluted. "Now go get her!"

With a shove, Private was pushed into the water. The other penguins stood on in honorable silence as Private tackled _the_ most dangerous missions in zoo history.

"Private… probably won't survive." Kowalski voiced just as soon as both Private and Sheba were out of earshot. Skipper turned back to the door to their base.

"I wouldn't either if I had to wake up Marlene _and_ get inside a woman's head, all in the same day." The lead penguin remarked waddling to the entrance.

"Dead…" Rico bowed his head. Then he twitched and zipped toward the base along side Skipper.

Kowalski was the only one to remain standing there.

"What's in your head, Kowalski?" Skipper called back at his friend. The tallest and smartest penguin held a flipper thoughtfully to his chin.

"With all the construction and new signs-" Kowalski pointed to a HUGE banner with Sheba's likeness on it being installed on the entrance of the zoo. "-I wonder if Julien's seen this yet."

And as if on cue, a blood-curdling scream was heard out of the lemur habitat. Another sick smile spread over Skipper's beak.

"That's a big, fat yes, Kowalski." He eyed the lemur habitat with a silent chuckle. But then he was brought out of his evil thought bubble by Kowalski.

"You did agree with Marlene that we would be doing some damage control, Skipper." The brainy penguin voiced. "It is within reasonable context of that agreement that we calm the little temper tantrum Julien is likely having."

Skipper rolled his eyes but agreed with his teammate.

"I did agree to that, didn't I?" He looked at the two remaining members of his team. Rico and Kowalski nodded. "Fine. But let be enjoy his harrowing screams for a few minuets."

Across the way, in the lemur habitat, Julien was rubbing his eyes so hard he nearly forced them back into his skull. This HAD to be a dream! He HAD to still be sleeping. Then the ring-tailed lemur opened his eyes again. Nope. There were billboards of that vexatious bird of paradise surrounding him.

"Dis is bad! A BAD dream that I am having!" Julien bit down on his fingertips. "I am still asleep in slumber! Yes! That is what is going on now!"

And with that the lemur flopped down onto his bounce-house bed. Lying there for a few long seconds, Julien rolled around twice before "waking up" again. The ring-tailed lemur forced a yawn, trying to authenticate his "reawakening". Sitting up on his bounce-house bed, he smacked his lips and gave his ear a scratch. Snatching his crown off of the little pillow beside him, Julien put it onto his head.

"Okay… When I open my eyes, I shall see my untainted kingdom." He chanted to himself. Finally, he took his hands off of his eyes.

Nope. Now there seemed to be more of that accursed bird's pictures surrounding him. A poster of her appearance was on every light post, every door and every wall. Julien began to hyperventilate and pull on his ears.

"BAD DAY!" He exclaimed before screaming again.

When Skipper, Kowalski and Rico finally made an appearance to Julien, they all happened upon a strange and disturbing sight. Upon zipping into the lemur habitat, all was strangely and uncharacteristically silent and when they finally came to Julien's throne, they saw how upset the ring-tailed lemur was. Julien was curled up on his throne, looking absolutely livid. At the foot of his throne was Mort and Maurice, on their bellies with their faces on the ground.

"What are you two doing?" Skipper saw Maurice and Mort on the floor. That got him a venom glare from Julien.

"Penguins!" The lemur hopped up in his seat. "PAY HOMAGE TO YOUR KING!"

Skipper narrowed his eyes.

"Not in a million year-" Before he could finish his sentence, Julien flew off of his throne faster than he'd ever seen the lemur move. Julien was immediately in Skipper's face.

"WHAT… did you say?" The ring-tailed lemur snarled, an unnatural rile in his golden eyes and his fur standing on end.

Though Skipper could easily take this crybaby mammal, it wasn't going to do the agreement he had with Marlene any good. The lead penguin gave a sigh and looked away.

"Uh… as much homage as we have in our hearts." Skipper returned, unexcited and lying through his beak. Julien looked somewhat pacified and stomped back to his throne.

Thank you shallow royal flattery.

"What's got your royal undies in such a bunch there, Ring Tail?" Skipper squeezed out, clearly swallowing his pride to talk comforting to such a thorn in his side.

Julien growled.

"Dis!" He gestured out over the heavily promotionalized zoo. "Everywhere I turn, dere is a poster of that annoying she-harpy! She is _NO_ queen! _I_ am de ONLY royalty here!"

Skipper looked up at Kowalski and gave him a pleading look.

"And why are Maurice and Mort on the ground?" Was all that Kowalski was interested in. A scowl rippled across Julien's face.

"They are groveling. Which I demanded of them." The ring-tailed lemur returned. Then he shot daggers at the three penguins. "Why are you not groveling?"

Skipper slapped his forehead and bit down. This was going to be torture. Here's hoping Private was having better luck with Sheba and Marlene.

Meanwhile Private was standing near Sheba as Marlene told her all about the animals and the zoo. The youngest penguin was having a hard time keeping his composure. This was indeed a dangerous assignment. Sheba and Marlene together proved to be difficult to balance. They were speaking a different language; the tongue of the females. It didn't help that Marlene had inadvertently lead them to another confrontation with Julien.

"Private? Private?" Marlene snapped her fingers in front of his face. The penguin zapped out of his fearful staring. "What's wrong? You look stressed."

The bird of paradise then looked over at her little penguin friend.

"Does he?" Sheba questioned, turning to the little bird. "I can't have my favorite penguin stressed."

Private gave a squeak, unable to form words. The girls looked at each other.

"Yup. He's stressed." The Asian otter nodded at Sheba. The bird of paradise shook her colorful head.

"This will not do. Marlene, comfort him." The queenly female bird ordered. Marlene gave her a glare; as politely a glare as one could give royalty.

Sheba gave a little grin before turning and looking at a brochure. Holding in a sigh, Marlene walked over to Private and put her hands on his shoulder. Private tensed even more.

"Relax." She smiled. "You get any tenser and you'll squeak when you walk."

The little penguin squeaked.

"How can you be so calm, Marlene?" He whispered back at the otter. Marlene couldn't help but smile at his nervousness.

"I just keep in mind that I've made a new friend." The otter responded. "You should think of Sheba as the same."

Then she got a funny look from Private.

"No, not that." He told her, casting his eyes over her shoulder. "We're at the lemur habitat."

Marlene's amber eyes widened and she craned around. This stretch of sidewalk looked eerily familiar. The female otter gave a horrified gasp.

"Private! We need to get her out of-!" But Marlene was cut off by a snicker from Sheba.

"This colorful pamphlet indicates that we are right across from the lemurs." The bird of paradise gave an evil grin as she brought her eyes up to a tall wall. Then Sheba looked back at Marlene. "I have another task for you, Marlene."

Skipper sat back, letting Kowalski do all the "comforting" to Julien. It was times like this that it was good to be leader; bossing around his teammates to do things he didn't want to do. Glancing over at Rico, who was absentmindedly staring off, Skipper gave a quiet sigh.

"You're lucky you're crazy, Rico." The lead penguin remarked. "You have a one-way ticket out of situations like this."

Rico gave a nod, his eyes crossed and his tongue hanging out of his head. Skipper glared back at Julien who was still curled up on his throne, still looking angry.

"A license to kill and I'm playing wet nurse to an unhinged lesser mammal with delusions of royalty." The lead penguin grumbled. "I'm doing a fine job of _wasting_ my training."

Just then they heard someone clear their throat. Looking up, all animals saw Marlene standing on the wall of the lemur habitat. The female otter looked apprehensive as she waved at them.

"Hello everyone!" Marlene greeted, trying to ignore the strange looks the lemurs and penguins were giving her.

"Marlene?" Skipper got to his feet. "What are you doing?"

The otter squirmed as her eyes came to Julien, Maurice and Mort.

"I-… I bring a message to…" She sighed. "Mr. Stinky Raccoon Face from Queen Sheba."

Skipper was horrified as Julien's fur rose off of his body again.

"What are you speaking, otter?" The ring-tailed lemur growled dangerously. Skipper shot Julien a glare.

"Don't talk to Marlene like that!" He snapped. "She's just the messenger."

Just before the two rivals could get into a yelling match, there was another sigh from Marlene.

"The wonderful and beautiful Queen Sheba directs THIS comment to the, uh…" She looked over the other side of the wall and listened as Sheba relayed her message. Marlene cringed but looked at Julien. "-very sad Possum-headed raccoon."

Julien raked his teeth together as Marlene continued.

"Queen Sheba asks if Mr. Raccoon enjoys being the village fool as much as he enjoys his stench." The otter winced, waiting for Julien's childish rebuttal. Sure enough, the lemur flew head-long into a freak out.

"MORT!" Julien snatched the mouse lemur from the ground. "Relay my glorious words to the feathery viper!"

Without room for Mort to reply, Julien threw him football-style into Marlene's arms.

"Hi!" The little lemur beamed waving at Marlene.

"MORT! Focus!" Julien called to his lesser servant. Mort snapped to attention.

"Oh, c'mon, Ring Tail!" Skipper gestured exasperatedly. "Save whatever dignity you have left."

Julien didn't hear the penguin over his own furious snorting.

"Mort! Tell dat molting turkey that she's all hot air and no substance! You tell her dat!" The ring-tailed lemur snarled. Mort saluted and looked over the wall.

"Julien says you're a smoking turkey that has hot hair and no substitutes." The little mouse lemur told Sheba. Julien, hearing Mort's words, slapped his forehead.

Then Marlene got a message from Sheba.

"Queen Sheba says that your compliments are as bad as your crown." The otter called over to Julien. The self-proclaimed lemur king fumed.

"Mort! Tell that goose dat I wasn't complimenting her!" The ring-tailed lemur snarled. Mort nodded.

"Okay!" The little, adorable lemur turned to Sheba. "Julien says that he wasn't contemplating a goose!"

Marlene watched Sheba's reaction. Then she turned to the other animals.

"She's kinda busy laughing." The otter shrugged. Julien dug his fingers into his armrests, his eye twitching badly.

Suddenly Sheba flew to the wall and looked into the lemur habitat. Julien was furious to see her and laughing so hysterically.

"I HATE her." The ring-tailed lemur shot out of his seat again. "DROP DEAD YOU AWFUL PEACOCK!"

The bird of paradise finally came off of her laughter.

"You're too much, Mr. Gerbil!" Sheba wiped her eyes. "I haven't laughed that hard since I saw you in the net."

She screamed with laughter again. Julien zipped out of his throne and to the edge of the raised platform.

"I am not dat funny!" He shook a fist at her. Sheba just laughed and laughed.

"Oh, yes you are." The bird of paradise then flicked her wings. "But what am I to expect from the king of fools."

"I am KING! RULER of all dat my eyeballs take in!" Julien was hopping mad. Then he calmed for a second. "But I will not argue dat my subjects are a little screwy in de brain."

"HEY!" The other animals called back. Sheba was suddenly not laughing anymore.

The bird of paradise was looking over his habitat and found it slightly infuriating. It was nice… MUCH nicer than the one she spent the night in. Then, at that moment, Sheba felt a small poke inside of her. Maybe this lemur was what he said he was.

Julien was looking for something to throw at the female bird. Just when he was going to call for a fruit, he saw her turn up her beak.

"Riveting though this was, I must continue with my tour." Sheba told him. "But you know what they say, Mr. Raccoon: a skunk cannot smell their own stink. Good day."

With that Sheba turned, opened her wings and glided down to the ground again. Marlene, looking relieved suddenly had one last message for Julien.

"Queen Sheba says that you are still a stinky possum face." With that, the female otter hopped back down to Sheba and Private.

Julien stood there, rigid with fury. Finally, he snapped his fingers.

"Maurice! Get me the chimps." The ring-tailed lemur ordered. Maurice exchanged a frightened look with Skipper.

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Review. LONG LIVE ROCK!

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	5. Naughty Nobles

Hello everyone! CJzilla here with another update. In this chapter Julien plots while Marlene and Private show Sheba around. Things get a little... messy. Enjoy.

As I rampage all over this city, alls CJzilla has to roar is this: R&R! Love. Hate. Review.

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Chapter 5

_Naughty Nobles_

Since it was Sunday morning, the zoo was closed until 11 a.m. Usually, this lull would be used by the animals for goofing off, but not today. There were two high-profile, high-maintenance characters running loose this morning leaving a feeling of unease in the rest of the animals. Skipper and Kowalski watched Julien snicker and plot as he paced. The lemur sent Maurice, his right-hand man, to fetch the chimps, Mason and Phil; Skipper sent Rico to find out what Maurice, and to a greater extent, Julien, was up to. Now all Skipper and Kowalski had to do was find out what they could on their end.

"So!" Skipper began, trying to be chipper and friendly as Julien snickered and plotted. "What's on your mind, Ring Tail?"

"Yes. Please tell us why you're snickering with sinister volume and wringing your hands malevolently." Kowalski chirped. Julien continued to pace and laugh quietly to himself.

"The evening of scores shall be _mine_!" The lemur proclaimed excitedly, point a finger in the air. "I, King Julien, am not _only_ brutally handsome but I am also an expert in the ways of retribution. I will get de last laugh on HER!"

Skipper felt a sneer curl onto his face.

"There's a saying we have here in New York, Ring Tail." The lead penguin folded his flippers defiantly. "He who laughs last, thinks slowest."

Julien looked back at his flightless rival, who had just lost his Most Annoying Bird title to the bird of paradise.

"Dat evil she-devil of a bird must have laughed in the latter because she's de _slowest_ in all history of slowness!" The lemur returned. Then he snapped his golden eyes to Mort. "YOU are second in de slowest in all history of slowness, Mort!"

"Are you talking to me now?" The mouse lemur called up to the platform as he had his face against the plastic volcano. "I like number two!"

Julien snarled and face-palmed.

"NO! I just spoke to you because you-… I-…" The ring-tailed lemur pulled on his ears. "Oh, SHUT UP! You're SO ANNOYING!"

Mort responded by giggling and looking flattered. Skipper looked at Kowalski.

"I personally think Ring Tail's beyond professional help." Skipper voiced, still annoyed that he had to be Julien's wet-nurse. Kowalski cleared his throat.

"And how exactly are you planning on retribution and getting the last laugh, Julien?" The brainy penguin asked. The ring-tailed lemur got a mischievous look on his expressive face.

"Dat is for de king to be knowing and for you all to find out." Julien returned. Skipper shook his head as Kowalski scribbled on his notepad.

Just then Rico, sent on recon, zipped into the habitat. Even for Rico, he looked a little rushed, out of breath and concerned. Immediately the crazy penguin began grunting and waving his flippers.

"What is it, man?!" Skipper questioned as Rico gestured. Kowalski was at his leader's side and reading Rico's gestures; well, trying to anyway.

"It looks like…" The brainy penguin translated his teammate's erratic movements. "Like zombie mammoths are invading the monkey cages and-"

Rico shook his head before flapping about again.

"No, no. Rico says that Mason and Phil are… swimming in pudding!" Skipper exclaimed. Rico looked pleased but not satisfied.

The crazy penguin ran over to Julien's pudding statue and pointed at the nearly rancid pudding. Skipper merely looked mad.

"This is why we never send you solo on recon missions, Rico!" He threw his flippers in the air. "How do we know what you saw if you never TELL us?"

"Well, Rico _IS_ telling us, Skipper. Just in his own special way. We should play charades more often!" Kowalski voiced. Rico gave a frustrated grunt.

Then the nutty penguin took a handful of pudding. With a brisk throw, he hit Skipper and Kowalski in the face. Wiping the gooey material off of their heads, the two penguins finally figured out what Rico was trying to tell them. Julien was going to have Mason and Phil throw _POO_ at Sheba!

"Sweet soul sister-!" Skipper breathed. "Ring Tail! Don't you _dare_-!"

When the penguin whirled around, Julien was no where to be seen. Skipper and Kowalski gasped.

"MOVE! We have a war to prevent! GO! GO!" Skipper and what was left of his team bolted off to stop Julien and warn Sheba; whichever came first.

A couple of habitats over but hidden in a tree, Mason, Phil, Julien and Maurice crouched in the branches. Julien was still snickering evilly but the chimps and Maurice weren't so sure about this.

"Tell us again what we're doing again, Julien." Mason questioned, a bad feeling start to bubble in the pit of his stomach. The lithe ring-tailed lemur shot them a crazy look.

"You and your excrement pitching friend are going to be helping me reek vengeance upon the colored vulture!" Julien beamed, happy as can be. Mason's face fell to horror as Phil began to frantically sign out petitions. "Well, she will reek of vengeance _and_ also… doody. De point being dat she will be stinking!"

"Are you daft?!" Mason gaped. "We will NOT fling poo at royalty!"

Julien rolled his golden eyes and snapped his fingers. Maurice popped out at Julien's side.

"We will reconcile any emotional trauma with candy." The aye-aye stated, holding up two gumdrops. Mason and Phil squealed with joy and shoved the candy into their mouths.

With the chimpanzees pacified, Maurice turned to Julien.

"I have to agree with the chimps, Majesty." Maurice swallowed. "We can't throw unmentionables at Queen Sheba! It's unethical!"

Julien patted his right-hand man on the head.

"Silly Maurice!" The ring-tailed lemur grinned. "WE will not be throwing ANYTHING. The chimpanzees will."

Meanwhile, quickly approaching the attack zone, Marlene and Private were still giving Sheba her tour. But the chatter about the exhibits died as Marlene was trying to do some damage control; as agreed last night in the souvenir shop.

"I know you and Julien got off on the wrong foot, but he really is a nice guy on the inside." The Asian otter gave a big smile, hoping to change Sheba's mind about the kingly ring-tailed lemur.

"Of course!" Private chirped. "Once you get past that shrill, impatient exterior, Julien is nothing but a BIG sweetheart!"

Sheba, who was walking in front of them, glanced back.

"Who are we talking about?" She gave them a spoiled look. Private and Marlene sighed.

"Mr. Stinky Raccoon Face." The otter mumbled. Sheba looked forward again.

"Oh! _Him_; I see." The bird of paradise nodded. "Unfortunately there is nothing you two that you two can say that will change my mind about that strange, alarmingly _annoying_ primate."

Private and Marlene were still hopeful.

"Okay. IF there was something that _would_ change your mind about him, what would it be?" The otter questioned carefully. Sheba stopped and looked off thoughtfully.

"Nothing. Nothing would change my mind." The bird of paradise gave them a sweet smile before she looked annoyed with her surroundings. "Is this all New York has to offer? I heard tales of urban wildlife, parties and noise. So far I've seen three elephants, the reptile house and an ostrich. I've been to a zoo in Morocco. Now THERE were some party animals. Did you know Moroccans throw a party that lasts all day and all night?"

Marlene quirked a brow.

"Parties? Are you a party girl, Sheba?" The otter questioned. Sheba giggled and blushed.

"A party girl?" The bird of paradise's feather ruffled a little. "Well, a queenly creature such as myself does like to get down once in a while. But I LOVE dancing!"

"Dancing?" Private chirped. Sheba gave a big smile.

"Dancing is a big part of who I am, Private." The female bird responded. "Birds of paradise express themselves by moving about and singing. We also pick… mates by dancing."

As Private had another nervous episode, Marlene was struck with a brilliant idea.

"We were going to throw a party tonight!" The otter chirped, nearly jumping into the air with her genius. One thing that Sheba and Julien shared in common was their love of parties and dancing. "It was going to be a surprise for you to celebrate your arrival, but I can't keep a secret for very long."

Private gave Marlene a strange look but she just nudged him to play along.

"Yes!" The little penguin cheered. "A party! With lights and music and dancing!"

Sheba just lit up.

"Really?! That's marvelous!" She chirped. "I look forward to it with great anticipation!"

Marlene pumped her paw. Yes! Here was one way to maybe get Julien and Sheba on good terms.

"Okay! Please excuse me for a second while I go… to the little otter's room." Marlene smiled and zipped off to tell Skipper. Private watched her go with big eyes.

"So, Private." He heard Sheba's voice in his ear. "Tell me… Are you a good dancer?"

Marlene was excited. She saw a way out of this royal disagreement. But she had to arrange the party. If the animals didn't deliver a killer shindig tonight, all hopes for quiet would be out the widow. Marlene ran as fast as she could to the lemur habitat. Rounding a corner, something rock hard flew into her. Tumbling a few times, she only realized that it was Skipper by his dark-sapphire eyes looking up at her.

"Skipper! Just the bird I wanted to see!" Marlene blurted out, climbing off of him. The penguin was immediately on his feet, looking terrified.

"Marlene! Where is Sheba?!" Skipper zipped into the otter's face and grabbed her shoulders. "THERE ISN'T A MOMENT TO LOSE!"

Over Skipper shaking her, Marlene swatted his beak. Both stopped, shocked at what the latter did. The otter immediately looked at her feet. Skipper shook it off.

"It's of the utmost importance, Marlene!" The lead penguin exclaimed. "Julien's lying in wait with the chimps! They're going to bombard Sheba with **POO**!"

Marlene's eyes went wide.

"He wouldn't!" She gasped. Skipper nodded.

"Kowalski's covering the south wing, Rico the east! We have to find them before Julien's nefarious plan is put into motion!" The penguin carried on. He felt Marlene grasp his flipper.

"This way! They're nearly at your habitat!" The otter yanked him to where she left them.

Sheba and Private were making their way to the penguin habitat. They were walking right into a clearing; a four-way intersection of paths that was right under a big tree. Julien, the chimps and Maurice were waiting for them.

"We're going to have to work on your shimmy and shake, Private." The bird of paradise voiced as they walked along. Private was mortified that she made him dance for her. "Penguins waddle which is adorable but it makes for a poor dancer."

"Uh… right." The little penguin shook off his stiff and awkward dance. Back to the mission. "You've seemed to have seen a lot of dancers, Queen Sheba. Where exactly have you been?"

Sheba gave a pleased sigh as she began remembering where her travels as an Animal Ambassador have taken her.

"Oh, I've been everywhere!" She twirled, nearly smacking Private with her tail feathers. "There was a crow in Jamaica that could sing and this toucan in Brazil that could hop with skill. But, alas, I have yet to find a great dancer to settle down to have hatchlings with."

Private face-palmed. Sheba was SO flighty.

"You've been to Jamaica and Brazil? Where else?" The penguin prodded. The bird of paradise giggled.

"I've been everywhere. Except to Antarctica and the North Pole." Sheba responded. "Rumor has it, there's nothing but ice and snow in those places."

She laughed again as they rounded the last corner and were now out in the open.

"But I do enjoy New York." The bird of paradise paused. "This place is exciting and everyone is so nice. It will probably go on my favorite country list!"

Skipper and Marlene ran down the pathway where Sheba and Private were last. Looking ahead both saw the bird of paradise standing out in the open, talking to Private. Then Skipper caught something in the tree above them. A flash of brown, a leafy crown and an arm cranked back with smelly projectiles.

"PRIVATE!" The lead penguin exclaimed. Immediately Private craned around to see his boss and Marlene scrambling for them. "BOGEY! 2 O'CLOCK!"

"FIRE!" They all hear Julien call out. Private didn't have time to grab Sheba and duck for cover.

The first projectile was thrown and it hit the ground by the bird of paradise's foot. The colorful female bird jumped.

"What the-?" Sheba squeaked out before something brown and viscous hit her in the stomach. It stuck to her perfect feathers and dirtied her beautiful appearance. "EEK!"

And then another hit her on her outstretched left wing. Before Sheba could scream, another hit her in the face. Blinded, dirty and horrified, the bird of paradise felt someone grab her wing and pull her to the right. Her back hit the wall and she went to work clearing her eyes from the brown _stuff_.

"Oh!" Sheba quivered. She heard a deafening silence from Private, Marlene and Skipper while an evil cackling from up in the tree.

"HA! How do you like your applesauce, you multi-colored vulture!" And she heard the lemur's voice. "Only someone dense and stupid would walk around willy-nilly!"

Skipper growled.

"Julien's gone TOO far this time." The penguin growled. "Marlene, see what you can do about the-… Whoa."

Sheba had scraped off the crud from her face and an unnatural anger was clearly seen in her brown eyes. Without a word, she opened her wings and zipped into the air. Skipper, Marlene and Private watched the furious female bird focus on the tree. Then they saw Mason, Phil and Maurice dive out of their hiding spot and run for their lives. Only Julien, as blinded by vengeance as ever, remained in the tree to trash talk his victim.

"Doody is a nice look on you, pigeon!" The ring-tailed lemur shook his fist. "You mess with the male cow, you get de boney _horns_!"

Sheba dove at the tree. Julien gave a squeak of terror and jumped back inside the branches. Sheba went in after him. After two seconds of scuffling and grunting, the bird of paradise emerged with Julien's tail in her claws' grasp.

"Let's see if this wind bag can _fly_!" Sheba spat. The other animals watched on in bated horror as Sheba flew Julien high above the zoo.

"She's going to drop him!" Marlene gasped. It was a ten story drop; the lemur wouldn't survive.

Sure enough, Sheba dropped Julien. The lemur fell like a bag of hammers. And just when the animals thought Julien would splatter on the ground, Sheba dove after him. Catching the lemur by the wrist she flew up again.

"Say sorry! Apologize to your Queen!" The bird of paradise fumed, flapping her colorful wings. Julien opened his eyes.

"NEVER!" He growled. A scowl came over the female bird's face.

And suddenly, Sheba dove back down to the zoo, Julien screaming like a baby. Finally she flew over the lemur habitat, specifically over the bounce-house. Releasing his paw, Sheba watched the lemur drop. Julien screamed as he hit the bounce house. The inflated rubber pounced him up to the raised platform and straight for his pudding sculture. With a sickening squish, Julien was face down in his pudding, his black and white fur now brown and black.

Sheba landed behind him, angry enough to scratch his eyes out.

"_Bleck_!" Julien quivered, squeezing out the warm, squishy pudding out of his fur.

"You loathsome creature." Sheba hissed. "You revolting little sneak. LOOK at what you did! I'm all DIRTY!"

The ring-tailed lemur spun, pudding caked in his crown and packed in his ears.

"YOU are a bird of loathsome nature!" Julien shot back. "And YOU are revolting! What of me?! I'm covered in de old pudding! It will take hours upon hours to clean my fur!"

Sheba turned up her beak.

"It's an improvement, _raccoon_!" The female bird growled. "You're lucky I don't CLAW off your face for doing what you did!"

"I won't be holding of my breath, _pigeon_!" The lemur stuck his nose in the air. "And you're fortunate dat I don't call Maurice to SIT on you!"

Sheba snarled, her feathers standing on end.

"You, SIR, are vile and I hate you!" The bird of paradise hissed. Julien looked at her.

"De feeling is mutual." He responded. The two glared at each other so hard, their foreheads were nearly touching.

And then someone jumped between them. It was Skipper.

"Whoa! Whoa!" The lead penguin pushed Julien and Sheba away from each other as the other animals congregated. "Settle down!"

"But Skipper!" Julien whined. "She's pigeon made out of PURE evil!"

"And he's a pudding covered raccoon with bad breath!" Sheba whined back. With a hiss, both were clamoring for each other, intent of pecking eyeballs out and/or ripping out feathers.

"Easy! Easy!" Skipper was getting squished. "Sheba! You have a show in thirty minuets!"

And the bird of paradise gave a loud, overly-dramatic gasp.

"Oh NO!" Sheba looked down at herself. "I'm a MESS!"

With a whimper, she flew off to her temporary enclosure to get clean.

"DAT'S RIGHT! YOU LEAVE! I HAD DE LAST LAUGH!" Julien shouted after her, shaking his fist. Then he got a swat to his nose.

"You're even more immature than I thought, pudding face." Skipper scolded. Julien's pudding-covered fur stood on end.

And then Maurice stepped into the picture.

"C'mon, your highness. Let's get started on that bath." The aye-aye grabbed Julien by the paw and led him to his bathtub. Skipper watched Julien go with narrowed eyes.

"And the chimps threw MUD! NOT poo!" The lead penguin called after the lemur. There was an embittered growl from Julien before Skipper motioned for his team to leave. "C'mon, team. I need a stiff drink and a nap."

Marlene watched the penguins tiredly shuffle toward the exit.

"There's still a chance they could become friends." The otter voiced. Skipper stopped and looked back at her.

"Explain, Marlene." He told her. Marlene twiddled her thumbs.

"Well, Sheba likes parties and dancing and Julien likes parties and dancing. So I told Sheba we'd throw a party tonight. If we get Julien to come, they'd be stuck at the same party and forced to interact." The otter gave a little grin. "Maybe something good will come of it…"

Skipper ran a flipper over his face and head.

"They just showed what they do when they interact." Kowalski voiced. "It'd be a mistake to put them on the same dance floor."

"C'mon. What do we have to lose?" Marlene asked. The penguins had to agree with that. "All I need is some help setting up."

The quartet of penguins looked at their leader. Skipper didn't look motivated but as he glared at Marlene, her otter pout finally got to him.

"Fine. We'll help. But if things go down hill, we do things our way." The penguin declared. Marlene nodded.

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Review! LONG LIVE ROCK!


	6. King and Queen of Fools

Hello everyone! CJzilla here with another update. Sorry it took so long and thanks for waiting. :) In this chapter, Marlene and the penguins trick Julien and Sheba into coming to the same party. Will their plan work or backfire? Enjoy.

As I rampage all over this city, alls CJzilla has to roar is this: R&R! Love... Hate... Review.

AN: If you want to see a picture of Sheba, visit my deviantArt account at cjzilla dot deviantArt dot com.

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Chapter 6

_King and Queen of Fools_

In the evening, there was a high-strung and volatile silence that came over the Central Park Zoo. Mainly due to the fact that two influential animals were at odds and the rest of the zoo's occupants were stuck in the middle. In a desperate, last-ditch attempt to get Julien XIII the ring-tailed lemur and Sheba the bird of paradise on good terms, a party was arranged. Since both "royal" pains liked to party and dance, Marlene the Asian otter thought a traditional Central Park Zoo bash would end this war.

"Keep it up guys!" The otter cheered over her shoulder as she stacked drink cups. They were setting up on the zoo's amphitheatre stage. "This will break the ice! I can just feel it."

Skipper, at the bottom of a ladder of penguins held up his teammates as they hung decorations, just growled.

"The ice has been broken, sister! The ice is _shattered_ and our hopes for quiet are at the bottom of the lake!" The lead penguin called back as he had Rico's smelly foot in his eye.

"Done, Skipper!" Private chirped. Private, Kowalski and Rico dropped off of each other's heads and landed in front of their leader.

Skipper rubbed his thumping head.

"Don't be like that, Skipper." He heard Marlene call back. "The party hasn't even begun so how can you tell me it won't work?"

The penguin glided up to her, grabbed a cup and ladled some punch into it. Skipper swigged it just to spite Marlene, who was irritated at him. Crunching it on his head, he tossed it into the nearest garbage can.

"Just in case you haven't been paying attention Marlene, Ring Tail and Queeny LOATHE each other." Skipper gestured. "I've seen this type of bloody-thirsty rivalry before. It's how Atlantis sunk to the briny bottom of the ocean."

Marlene put her paws on her hips.

"I thought Atlantis sunk because of a seismic disaster." She argued. Skipper gave her a cocky grin.

"That's what we agreed to feed the public. For all you know Atlantis is no more. But those of us who have more security clearance, know it's a booming metropolis who invented the television." The penguin went on, that smug smile on his face.

The otter wasn't convinced.

"Yeah, okay." She responded. "See what that Atlantis expertise will get you as you tell Julien that we're going to have a party."

That sent a wild twitch to Skipper's eye.

"I'm a highly trained military master, not some lemur messenger. I draw the line at annoying crybabies." He folded his flippers defiantly. Then he heard Marlene giggle at him.

"Has Skipper met his match in one little lemur?" The otter teased. The penguin just turned up his beak.

"That's not going to work." Skipper returned.

"Then would you rather handle Sheba instead? I haven't told her when the party is happening yet." Marlene questioned. Skipper's eyes snapped open.

He gave a whistle into the air.

"Private! You're on Sheba retrieval duty with Marlene! Rico! With me! Kowalski! Stay here and set up for merriment. MOVE!" The lead penguin spat out orders as fast as he could.

Following his leader's orders Rico stopped canoodling with his blond doll and bolted off of the stage like it was red-hot. Both penguins scrambled for the exit. Marlene shook her head.

"Skipper acts like women have the plague." She said out loud; loud enough for Kowalski and Private to hear her. Both penguins said nothing in return, hoping she wouldn't notice. "Did you two hear me?"

Private and Kowalski flinched.

"Who would WANT to deal with Sheba right now?" The smaller penguin questioned carefully. "She's as angry as a chili-fed badger ever since Julien threw mud at her."

"Let's just be thankful it wasn't the _other_ unmentionable that Julien hurled at her." Kowalski took some streamers in his flippers and began to hang them. Marlene put her paws on her hips.

"Bringing Sheba and Julien together for a dance is our LAST chance for peace and quiet." The otter returned. "I'm willing to brave a little danger so that everything goes back to normal. So are you coming with me or not, Private?"

Private trembled, knowing very well how enraged Sheba was when he last saw her.

"I have orders to come with you." The youngest penguin returned. He inhaled and puffed out his chest. "Let's go, Marlene!"

Meanwhile with Skipper and Rico; both penguins entered the lemur enclosure carefully. Julien was in a state since this morning. Skipper didn't want to do this. In fact, this morning, he had to hold himself back from walloping the immature lemur for attacking Sheba. But he'd rather take on Julien than Sheba. He wanted to live. They were nearly at the plastic volcano when both Rico and Skipper heard yelling.

"NO! BAD! Dat is NOT how my fur is to be brushed!" It was Julien, doubtlessly yelling at Maurice. "You are going against de grain! De terrible combing of my tender follicles will make me MOLT! As KING I will not have a spot of bald ON MY TAIL!"

"Here we go." Skipper rolled his dark blue eyes as he and Rico hopped onto the raised platform, where the whiny lemur's throne was.

Once the two penguins came into sight, they saw Julien snatch the brush out of Maurice's hand.

"I am displeased! Never have I seen such a mangling of my fur!" The ring-tailed lemur growled. Maurice looked genuinely stunned.

"But, your majesty! That's how I always comb you fur!" The aye-aye gestured, his yellow eyes wide. His plea was met with a brush up-side his head.

"Well it is inadequate now! Now go with Mort and put your face on de plastic volcano! THINK about what you almost did!" Julien pointed to the corner of his habitat. Maurice grumbled but did as he was told.

Skipper ran his flipper over his face. Keep… calm.

"Hey… neighbor!" He mustered, walking forward. Julien jumped and spun; Skipper caught his hand before he was able to strike him with the brush.

"I wish to see no one!" The lemur growled, pulling his paw out of Skipper's flipper. With that, Julien sat and began combing his tail.

"You seem… a little tense there, Ring Tail." The penguin put on a fake smile. Julien sighed.

"Yes. I am a little all-up-in-dat." The royal lemur admitted, running the brush length-wise up his tail. "I am aggravated times two because dere is nothing dat my bumbling lackeys can do right for me."

Skipper rolled his eyes.

"I know what will turn that frown upside-down." The penguin responded. Julien stopped brushing his tail and looked up at Skipper with big, expressive golden eyes.

"What will make my mouth be happy?" He asked, quirking a brow. Skipper gave a grin.

"We're having a party." He answered. Julien brightened but remained skeptical.

"What for? Because if it's for dat painted pigeon, I'm never speaking to you again!" The lemur crossed his arms and gave a pout.

"Though I would like that, the party's for… uh…" Skipper paused, looking over at Rico and giving him a hopeful look. Then his eyes traced to a huge promotional poster with Sheba's picture on it. "We're celebrating because Queeny only has one more day here before she leaves."

Julien hopped to his feet and gave a jovial laugh.

"Brilliant! I am _so_ dere!" The lemur gave a big smile. Then he turned. "Mort! Maurice! Saddle my throne dat is mobile! We're going to a party!"

Skipper couldn't believe his luck. The nutty lemur bought it!

"See? I can handle lemur crybabies. And that's why I'm leader." He gave Rico a smug grin. Rico just rolled his eyes and shook his head.

Meanwhile, Private and Marlene stood inside Sheba's big, temporary cage. There was a large curtain hanging over the bird of paradise's bird bath. Private, with his back to the curtain could hear Sheba feverishly splashing about in the water. He heard her occasionally growl with frustration.

"I feel so FILTHY!" Sheba snarled. Marlene sighed.

"How many baths is this for you today?" The otter questioned. There was another growl from the bird of paradise.

"I lost count." Sheba grunted. "If it wasn't for that raccoon, I wouldn't be in such a state! And I had to PERFORM like this! I'm going to make that raccoon's life MISERABLE!"

Marlene glanced at Private and silently asked for him to say something.

"I'm sorry you feel so down, Sheba." The little penguin managed. Sheba sighed.

"Yes. And my visit here was going so well. Thank you for your kind words, Private." The bird of paradise shook the access water off of her wings. Sheba flew out from behind the curtain and perched on a branch of her fake, collapsible tree.

There was a tiny towel wrapped around her head and her feathers were all poofy from her bathing.

"You better get your dancing shoes on because we're throwing you a party!" Marlene threw her paws in the air. "We'll show you that there is more that this zoo has to offer!"

Sheba brightened drastically.

"A party?!" The female bird echoed, a huge smile spread across her beak. Marlene and Private nodded.

"With snacks, lights, music and dancing!" The penguin chirped, flapping his flippers. Sheba threw off her towel and flew to the ground.

"What are we doing here?!" The bird of paradise cheered. Snatching Private by the flipper, Sheba sped toward her cage's exit.

When Sheba, Marlene and Private arrived, Kowalski and the chimps were all ready waiting to start the party. The bird of paradise gave a loud squeal when she saw the lights, streamers, the disc jockey stand and dance floor.

"Amazing!" Sheba cheered, taking to the air and landing in the center of the stage. "This is absolutely amazing!"

As Sheba awed at the beautiful surroundings, Marlene and Private zipped up to Kowalski, who was DJing.

"What's going on? Skipper was supposed to be here." The otter whispered. The tall, brainy penguin lifted up his sunglasses.

"They're still moving the package and are two minuets from home base." Kowalski responded quietly, using code words just incase Sheba overheard them. "Ring Tail's packing a fistful of attitude."

Marlene swallowed as she stole a glance at Sheba. The bird of paradise wanted to get her party on.

"We've got to alter the plan a little. I'll keep look out and signal you. Once Skipper and Julien arrive, you start the music." The female otter said.

"What about Sheba? She's not going to wait around for Julien." Kowalski hushed. But they still had to buy a little more time.

And then Marlene looked over at Private. A brilliant idea hit her.

"I need you to stall, Private. Ask Sheba to teach you a few dance steps." She whispered to Private. The penguin's eyes went wide.

"I can't!" He quivered. Marlene rolled her amber eyes.

"Fine. I'll ask her for you." With that the otter pushed Private forward. He didn't go willingly.

Sheba was speaking with the chimps when they made their way over to her.

"Of course I hold no grudge against you." The bird a paradise told Mason and Phil as they apologized. "I hold complete responsibility for your actions upon that irritating _shrew_ of a raccoon."

Then she felt someone nudge her. When she looked up and saw Private, she smiled.

"Skipper and Rico aren't here yet." Marlene strained with keeping Private from running away. "While we're waiting… could you teach Private how to-?"

Marlene couldn't even finish her sentence when Sheba yanked Private out of her arms and onto the dance floor.

"I'll teach you a simple Samba, Private." The queenly bird of paradise told him with a smile. Private's eyes were beady and he broke out into a cold sweat.

As Sheba was busy, Marlene zipped to the entrance to the amphitheatre. Even though it was dark, you could see King Julien being paraded toward the party; Skipper and Rico leading the group. The otter waved, getting Skipper's attention. He and Rico slid on their bellies and closed the distance between them surprisingly fast.

"Is everything set to go off?" Skipper hushed. Marlene nodded.

"You're late!" The otter threw her paws in the air. "You were supposed to have Julien here before Queeny!"

Skipper pointed a flipper at Julien's mini parade.

"Ring Tail wanted his over-inflated tush hauled on the shoulders of his unfortunate ninnies." Obviously Skipper was irritated. Marlene glanced over his shoulder and saw that the lemurs were rapidly approaching.

"Kowalski's going to start the music as soon as I signal him." The female otter said. "We're going to dim the lights so Julien and Queeny don't know they're on the dance floor until they can't get away."

Skipper gave a smug devil-may-care smile.

"Here goes nothin'." He said out loud before nodding at Marlene. "Operation Renegade Royals is a go."

Marlene leaned into the doorway and looked to Kowalski. Bringing her paw to her mouth, she gave a whistle into the air. From across the amphitheatre, the tall penguin gave a wave. Flicking down his shades, the brainy bird grabbed the microphone.

"Ladies and gentlemen." Kowalski cooed into the microphone, using a deep, seductive voice. "Welcome. I am DJ Cerebral-K bringing you the hottest beats from the New York City streets. Now let's get this party hoppin'."

And he put the needle to the record. Dance music thumped through the huge speakers, shaking the punch with every hit of bass. Sheba gave a squeal and began to dance with Private as her unwilling partner.

As the beat slammed out inside the amphitheatre, Julien was finally at the entrance. As soon as the music hit his ears, the ring-tailed lemur hopped off of his mobile throne.

"Music! For me?!" Julien cheered, zipping up to Skipper, Marlene and Rico. Immediately the three animals blocked his way into the front entrance.

"You can't go in there!" Marlene spat out. Julien gave a scoff.

"And I am asking, why not?" The lemur shrugged. Marlene's amber eyes went beady; she had no response for that.

"Because you're getting the VIP entry, Ring Tail." Skipper saved Marlene. "YOU are coming in the back door. Just like you're important!"

Julien did an excited dance.

"Just like a star that is rocking!" He beamed. Then he turned to Mort and Maurice, who were still holding his mobile throne. "Park it in front boys. Just incase the fan-girls come scampering!"

Skipper felt his face curl into a sneer.

"This way, rock star." Marlene gestured. Julien gave an excited squeak and walked toward the back entrance of the amphitheatre; Marlene turned to Skipper. "Thanks."

The lead penguin rolled his eyes.

"Save the sap for later, Marlene. Get his high and nastiness to the back." Then Skipper turned to Rico. "_We've_ got to make our appearance! Move!"

And the two penguins zipped into the amphitheatre. Once inside, they flipped onto the stage and saw Sheba dancing with Private. They didn't go unnoticed.

"Skipper! Rico!" The female bird of paradise beamed. "You made it! C'mon! Shake your tail-feathers!"

Sheba let go of Private and the young penguin scampered to his leader. He slapped Skipper on the flipper.

"TAG!" Private panted desperately. Skipper gave him a weird look.

"_Tag_? What-?" Before he could think, Sheba grabbed him by the flipper and hauled him onto the dance floor. He was looking into her brown eyes.

"Show me what you've got, Skipper." The bird of paradise challenged. Skipper smirked back.

"Prepared to be dazzled, Queeny." With a flick on his flipper, he spun Sheba. The bird of paradise laughed and jumped back into dancing with Skipper.

As Skipper kept Sheba distracted, Private took five while Rico grabbed his doll and began dancing with her. Now the tricky part came; getting Julien and Sheba on the same dance floor. Marlene bolted out of the back and up to Kowalski.

"Kowal-" But then she saw Skipper and Sheba doing a tango, dancing dangerously close to each other. Marlene stood there in stunned and jealous silence.

Kowalski raised his shades and leaned down from his DJ platform.

"Marlene!" He whispered. "Where's Julien?"

The otter snapped out of her stare and glanced at Kowalski.

"Right behind me. Kill the lights!" She responded. The brainy penguin nodded and spun another record.

That was the signal for the chimps, Mason and Phil, to dim the lights. Instantly the lights were dimmed nearly to complete darkness only a strobe light lighting up the blackness. Skipper took that opportunity to spin Sheba and duck off of the stage. At that moment Julien came running out onto the stage, thinking this party was all his.

"PLAY that funky harmony!" The lemur shouted and began to dance. Suddenly, someone bumped into him.

Julien turned, expecting to see Maurice or Mort but he saw someone else. Through the flashing strobe lights, the lemur saw Sheba. The bird of paradise was just as stunned to see him.

Both froze.

And then the big lights came back to life and bathed the stage in a glow. Kowalski took the record off of his turntables and all was silent. All were focused on Sheba and Julien and what they would do…

"What are YOU DOING HERE?!" Sheba roared, looking royally peeved. Julien… didn't look any better.

"ME?! What is YOU DOING AT _MY_ PARTY?!" The lemur fired back. The bird of paradise fumed.

"This is _MY_ PARTY! And I'm ORDERING you to get out of my sight!" Sheba spat.

"In you DREAMS YOU FEATHERED SNAKE!" Julien shouted.

It was at that time that Skipper and Marlene jumped between them.

"Easy you two!" Skipper pushed Julien back as Marlene stood in front of Sheba. Then the focus of the two royals settled on them.

"Explain this!" Sheba snarled to Marlene, gesturing to Julien.

"Yes! Tell me why my eyes are beholding this molting vulture!" Julien growled, glaring at Skipper.

"We threw this party just to get you two on good terms." Marlene glanced at the two immature royals. "You both like parties."

Sheba smoldered.

"You TRICKED me!" She glowered at the otter. Skipper sighed.

"Yes, we tricked you." The lead penguin admitted. "But the little babyish feud you two have going is disrupting our lives. This was our last resort!"

"Babyish?!" Julien fumed. "I am not a babyish, you pot-bellied, fishy, flightless bird!"

Skipper's eye twitched but it was Marlene who spoke up.

"Don't talk to Skipper like that! He's just trying to end this petty fight." The otter barked back. Then Sheba hissed.

"Petty?!" Sheba exclaimed. "You disobeyed my orders! And now you insult me! Since we're being honest, I thought I should point out, _Marlene_, that you look like a bald man with tiny ears who has delusions about being the voice of reason!"

Marlene's eyes went wide as a scowl slammed on Skipper's face.

"Now HOLD your horses-!" The lead penguin stuck a flipper in Sheba's face.

"NO! YOU be holding your ponies!" Julien exclaimed. "I refuse to take orders from anyone who is with de she-devil of a bird!"

Sheba turned her back to Julien.

"And that goes double for the black and white _wonder_." The female bird expressed. There was a silence.

Marlene looked at Skipper with anger in her eyes.

"Let's try this YOUR way, Skipper." The otter gave him a sly, vindictive look. The scowl on Skipper's face had not released.

"I thought you'd never ask." He then gave a signal with his flipper. Private, Rico and Kowalski jumped to their feet.

The penguins swarmed on Julien and Sheba.

Half a minuet later, both royals were thrown into the Zoovenirs Shop. Landing in a heap, Julien and Sheba barely had time to look up when they heard Skipper's words.

"This is for your own good." He growled. With a swift pitch, the penguin shut the door.

Julien scrambled off of Sheba and seized the door handle.

"Let me out! Let me OUT! MORT! MAURICE! I command to be released! I am KING JULIEN XIII!" But when the ring-tailed lemur twisted the handle, he found it to be locked.

Sheba was in the air, zipping toward an open window. She nearly swooped out of the building when Rico slammed the window. The bird of paradise gasped and clawed at the window.

"NO! Open this window AT ONCE!" Sheba snarled. Rico merely stuck out his tongue and jumped out of sight. "Get BACK HERE! I shall be released AT ONCE!"

The ruckus from the two caged royals was enough to wake the dead. The penguins, chimps, Mort and Maurice and otter stood outside the Zoovenirs Shop.

"We should have done this WAY earlier." Maurice huffed, arms folded. The animals nodded.

"Yeah." Mort shook his little head.

"I concur." Kowalski watched Julien twist the door handle, but to no avail. Finally Skipper cleared his throat.

"Let's not let a perfectly good party go to waste!" The lead penguin smiled. Then he looked at Marlene. "May I have a dance?"

The otter felt a little pink come to her face as he offered her his flipper.

"Why not?" She took his offer. With that all the animals, minus Sheba and Julien zipped back to the amphitheatre.

The music started and they could no longer hear Sheba and Julien's racket and childish tantrum.

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Review! LONG LIVE ROCK!


	7. Shake It

Hello Saints and Sinners! CJzilla with another update! Thanks for waiting; I had to fight with this one XD. Now, in this chapter our two favorite royals are forced to interact and in the morning, it's anyone's guess if Sheba and Julien didn't tear each other to pieces. Enjoy.

As I rampage all over this city, alls CJzilla has to roar is this: R&R! Love... Hate... Reivew.

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Chapter 7

_Shake It_

Julien sat with his back against the door and his head tilted to the ceiling. It'd been exactly three hours since he and Sheba, the bird of paradise, had been locked in the Zoovenirs Shop. The kingly ring-tailed lemur listened to the music boom and then fade within the last half an hour. Pathetic, really. If HE was out on the dance floor, he'd still be shaking his booty; the other animals just didn't have the party-drive like he did. Then there was a clatter from the far end of the shop. A scowl rippled across Julien's face. He was reminded that he shared this souvenir prison with another. The lemur couldn't help but listen to Sheba's aggravated grunt as she hopped along window.

Sheba scratched her manicured claws on the glass, trying to force the cracked window opened just a little more. Her attempts were beginning to look absolutely useless. The female bird of paradise finally snorted and flew off of the window's ledge. There were two other windows in the accursed building; she WOULD get out. Sheba had scarcely landed at the second window when she heard a loud sigh from her unwilling cellmate.

"Be giving it a break, all ready." The ring-tailed lemur pleaded as he got to his feet. "Dere is no means of escape."

Sheba turned up her beak and continued to claw at the window. Julien walked to the middle of the shop's floor and watched her.

"I will not remain another second in this place!" She fumed. "This is defiance of the highest degree!"

Julien shrugged.

"Eh. You get used to it." He responded lazily, bored with sitting around. There was a pause from the female bird.

"You mean… your subjects are ALWAYS this rebellious?" Sheba gave him a look of genuine surprise.

"De solitary confinement is slightly new." Julien admitted, scratching his nose absentmindedly. "But yes. Dey are bold with their defiance."

Irritation came to the bird's face.

"Well, congratulations." She sneered. "You have a strong-minded kingdom."

Julien brightened.

"Oh! So you are admitting dat I am king?" He questioned slyly. Sheba sighed.

"You have _some_ degree of royalty to influence the animals' lives as you have today. They themselves admitted it." The bird squeezed out. She stole a glance at the lemur's face.

Sheba saw a child-like giddy grin on Julien's expressive face. The lemur gave a jovial giggle before climbing up onto the counter, just below her.

"And why shouldn't my subjects be troubled when their king is suffering?" Julien put a paw haughtily on his chest. "Dey love me like dat."

The bird of paradise gave a mocking smirk.

"Love you enough to lock you in here?" She bit. The lemur returned her mocking smirk.

"With you." He returned. Sheba's smirk vanished.

The female bird grunted with frustration as she pressed her head against the glass.

"My bubble bath is getting cold." She whined, longing to take another bath. "And don't think just because I am talking to you that I am any less angry with you."

Julien quirked a brow, looking confused.

"For the MUD you threw at me, you dense primate!" Sheba snapped, reminding him. Julien suddenly remembered but was equally angered by her insult.

"You gave me a bath of old pudding!" Julien fired back. "And I require an apology of de sincerest magnitude!"

He turned indignantly. Within in that same second, he heard Sheba's flapping wings and her dainty form land on the counter where he was standing.

"Apologize?! YOU threw MUD on me!" The female bird spat. "You deserved getting covered in that moldy statue!"

The ring-tailed lemur whirled around and looked Sheba in the eye.

"And you deserve a splat of mud in your face, _bird_!" Julien's fur rose off of his back. Sheba returned his glare.

"You deserve to be shaved." The bird of paradise retaliated.

"You deserve to be plucked." The lemur growled back.

"You deserve to be manhandled!" Sheba retorted. "Oh, wait. That all ready happened yesterday."

Julien smoldered.

"_You_ drew the first drop of blood, harpy!" Julien's fur rose off of his back. "You came to MY kingdom and do de hostile takeover!"

"I'm the REAL royal here!" Sheba barked. "You are nothing but a silly _raccoon!_"

Julien face-palmed, muttering inaudible curses under his breath. Without another word, he stomped off the counter, dropped to the ground and trudged back to the door. Sheba watched him sit in a huff and couldn't help but feel a stab of guilt. _His_ kingdom… Sighing, the female bird returned to her window ceil where she watched the New York cityscape off in the distance.

Another hour of unsettled silence passed. Given the amount of time and his short attention-span, Julien was busying himself with a stuffed lemur doll made in his likeness.

"All right little dolly." He started talking to the plushie. "I, King Julien, am de number-iest one in de whole zoo, right? I mean, I am de kingliest of kings? I am still a king? TELL ME I AM A DE REAL ROYAL HERE!"

He shook the doll like a maraca. Julien gave the plushie a hopeful look but its head merely popped off. Sighing, he rolled his eyes.

"Thanks for not being a source of assist at all." The lemur mumbled. He felt another wave of boredom wash over him as he looked back at the doll. "I am still wicked hot, right? I still de most delicious lemur in all de land! My subjects love my ferociously handsome bod!"

He had barely squeezed out that sentence when he felt someone watching him. Looking up at the nearest display, he saw Sheba perched on it. She cocked her head curiously at him.

"Who are you talking to?" The bird of paradise questioned. The ring-tail lemur narrowed his eyes at her.

Sheba opened her colorful wings and drifted to the floor. Now standing in front of him, Sheba could see the distaste on Julien's face. Upon spotting the headless doll in his grasp, the female bird gave him a funny look. The lemur turned his back to her, sticking his nose in the air.

"So…" She began awkwardly as Julien held his back to her. "I understand you like dancing?" She moved around him and tried to get him to look at her. "Are you any good?"

Still, the lemur frowned, folded his arms and turned his back on her again. Sheba gave a small giggle as she rounded him again, letting her tail-feathers brush against his fur.

"Oh. Giving me the silent treatment, are you?" The female bird pried. Julien's face remained annoyed. "Very well. I was going to ask if you would like to dance but it looks like you have something else to do."

Sheba tossed a glance at the doll in Julien's grasp. The lemur was firm in his pout; his expression hadn't changed. In a weird mix of relief and disappointment, Sheba opened her wings and flew into the air. Upon landing on the cashier's counter, the female bird of paradise. Sheba hopped to a small AM/FM radio being the cash register. Flicking it on, she searched for a music channel. In just a few turns of the dial, music poured out of the radio. Sheba smiled as her foot began tapping. Before she knew it, she was dancing.

Transported to a magical realm where dancing took her, Sheba hadn't realized that Julien was on his feet and peering up at her from on the floor. He watched her dance until he finally admitted something to himself. It looked like fun. Throwing his headless doll over his shoulder, the lemur made a break for the counter. Climbing up to the dance floor, Julie barely dodged Sheba's tail-feathers. Scrunching his nose, Julien hopped over to the radio and changed the channel. Sheba immediately stopped dancing.

"Hey!" She objected. "I was-!"

"I know of a better, booty-shaking channel." Julien cut her off, spinning the dial of the radio. Sheba rolled her eyes and waited.

And then better, more pulsating dance music filled the air. As the lemur stood, he saw Sheba giving him a pleasantly surprised look.

"I am a professional when it comes to de radio." Julie gave her a smile. The female bird was delighted.

"I LOVE it!" She cheered. Now it was Julien's turn to look pleasantly surprised. "It's just so-…"

Sheba didn't finish as she started to dance again. Julien smiled and started to dance himself. He scarcely started to move when Sheba's long and large tail-feathers knocked off his crown. As it clattered to her feet, the lemur stiffened, irritated again. The female bird of paradise's hopped over to him. Sheba picked up his crown and moved over to him, raising his crown to put it back on his head.

When she her wings came down over him, Julien was hit with rich hues of greens, green-blues and purple. Sheba was indeed colorful and regal. Pulling those two things together made her beautiful. He didn't realize he was staring at her until he felt his crown fall back onto his head. Sheba dropped her wings. With a big music-intoxicated smile on her face, the female bird of paradise mouthed the word "sorry". And then she dropped to the floor and picked up where she left off.

Julien instinctively straightened his crown and watched her dance. Her spins and hops were no where near as good as his but the multi-colored, nearly shimmering light that came from her fanned feathers were mesmerizing. The lemur's smile exploded off of his face as he scampered back to the radio. Turning up the volume, Julien hopped to the floor.

Sheba opened her eyes when she heard Julien turn up the radio. He was dancing right next to her. The female bird paused for a few long moments, watching the lemur dance. Sheba was enchanted with what she saw. Julien was an avid dancer and the moves he pulled left the bird dazed. It seemed that the best dancer she'd ever seen was this spoiled, eccentric lemur!

Julien tossed his arms in the air and felt the music come in through his fingertips, bounce inside him and flow out of his tail. The lemur jumped around before he felt Sheba at his side. Opening his eyes, Julien saw the female bird of paradise looking at him with charmed, half-opened eyes. Sheba held her eyes to his as she danced around him, fanning her feathers and showing him even more colors within her beautiful plumes. The lemur watched this dance with eager curiosity. The bird stopped in front of him, covering her face with her wings. Julien smiled and cut a rug, spinning and break-dancing. Sheba peeked through her wing. Julien was really rocking; she would go so far as to say absolutely amazing.

Julien stood, striking a pose before catching his breath. Sheba opened her wings, hopped to the left and hopped to the right. Then she jumped high into the air and landed dangerously close to him. Julien took the hint. He smiled back and grabbed her. The two royals began to dance together and into the night.

Monday morning. It was pretty early; too early for the zoo staff to have arrived yet. Then penguins and Maurice and Mort stood in front of the Zoovenirs Shop. There was a long silence from the animals.

"Do you think they ate each other?" Mort, the Goodman's mouse lemur questioned, his tail coiled around his body. Kowalski gave a dry laugh as Private looked fearful.

"Not impossible so I will say probable." The tall, brainy penguin responded. Even Maurice looked a little guilty and frightened.

"I'm starting to get the feeling that this was a bad idea…" The aye-aye stated, looking at Skipper. "When Julien gets his freak on, there ain't much stopping him. Including Sheba."

Skipper gave Maurice a slightly-concerned-but-more-irritated look.

"We move in once Marlene gets here." The lead penguin returned. "Then we'll know the gruesome truth in horrifying detail."

Then they all heard the pitter-patter of the otter's feet on the concrete walkway. The animals turned and were surprised to see a large fruit-hat on Marlene's head.

"Hey guys! Sorry I'm late." The Asian otter immediately apologized. She was met with a stunned silence as her friends could just stare at her head. "It's-… uh… my new look. What do you think?"

"_Fruity_!" Rico pointed before flopping on his back and laughing his nutty head off. Skipper cast a scowl at Rico before pointing at Kowalski.

"Kowalski." The brainy penguin nodded before leaning over and slapping Rico. Skipper stepped up to Marlene. "You're with me. We're just about to crack this Pandora's Box open and since everyone else is too lily-livered to join me, it's up to you Marlene."

He gestured for the otter to walk beside him. Jumping up to the lock, Skipper hit the doorknob. Instantly it opened. The otter and penguin walked inside as the door swayed shut on them.

"Question Marlene." Skipper said to his friend as they walked into the dark shop. "What's with the head-gear?"

Marlene gave him a coy smile before twiddling her thumbs.

"I'm experimenting with my look, is all Skipper." She was lying and it didn't take Skipper's colorful years as an interrogator to determine that. The penguin shook his head.

"You're fibbing, Marlene." He told her as he reached up and plucked the hat from her head. "Disregard Queeny's comment about your looks. You're straight up perfection to me."

The otter thanked the darkness of the room as her face was turning red.

"Thanks Skipper." Marlene responded, eyes on her feet. Skipper gave a less than friendly grunt as he was trying to hide the blush on his own face.

Tossing the fruit hat over his shoulder, he cleared his throat and continued the search.

"You're welcome. Now; let's find Queeny and Ring Tail's remains; IF there is any." The penguin ventured deeper into the store. Marlene followed close behind as started calling out for the two royals.

"Sheba! Julien! Where are you?" The otter glanced around the darkened room. Nothing.

Skipper stopped and sighed.

"Keep your feet planted right here, Marlene. I'm hitting the lights." Marlene heard Skipper slide off. Within two seconds, the large fluorescent lights came on.

The otter blinked, adjusting her amber eyes to the new light. And then the penguin was at her side again.

"Ring Tail! Queeny! Sound off if you're not dead!" Skipper called out. Marlene swatted his shoulder. "What? They could very well be dead."

Finally there was a groggy moan from atop a display of T-shirts. Marlene and Skipper turned to the multi-tiered shelf.

"Identify yourself!" The penguin barked. Finally they saw Julien sit up.

He had fiercely-messy bed-head and looked like he'd just fell to sleep. Giving a loud yawn, Julien could barely keep his eyes open.

"What is with all de racket of noise? Can't you see dat I am attempting to sleep?" Yep; the lemur was just stirred from a deep sleep. Skipper and Marlene glanced at each other.

"Good morning, Ring Tail." The penguin quipped. Then he got serious. "Where's Queeny?"

Julien blinked and took a moment before Skipper's question sunk in.

"Oh. You are meaning Sheba." The lemur returned. Marlene and Skipper looked surprised; Julien used Sheba's name. "She's right here."

Then he turned his head and shook the bird of paradise that was sleeping right next to him. Sheba raised a wing and then rolled over, trying to get back to sleep. Well, needless to say, Skipper and Marlene were thunderstruck. They just stared, jaws on the floor and utterly shocked.

"Rise and shine, my little pigeon." Julien cooed, nudging Sheba more. It was at that point that Skipper and Marlene were just speechless. "Be waking up now. De zoo opens in a few minuets."

Finally Sheba got to her feet. Her eyes were still closed but she was awake. Julien swung his legs over the side of the display and gave Skipper and Marlene a sheepish grin.

"Uh… Big night." The lemur explained, shrugging a little. Then Julien hopped off of the top tier display.

The still asleep lemur hit every shelf on the way down to the floor. Giggling, Julien stood. Marlene and Skipper were still silent with surprise. The lemur shook his fur before patting his head; his crown was not with him.

"Sheba! Please be tossing down my kingly crown." He looked up. Sheba blinked sleepily before snatching his crown from the T-shirts.

She placed it on her head before gliding down to the floor. Julien took it carefully from her head.

"Thank you, my little dancing queen." The lemur purred. Sheba gave him a wily look before giving a big grin.

"Any time, Julien." The bird of paradise pressed her head to his cheek. The two royals embraced and Marlene and Skipper were more flabbergasted than before. "Well, I have another appearance in two hours. I would like to make an announcement promptly at noon."

"Of course. I shall be telling everyone of it!" Julien beamed. Sheba left the lemur's arms and smiled.

Then the bird of paradise flew to the nearest window and flew out of it. Julien giggled to himself before realizing that Skipper and Marlene were still staring at him.

"What? De window? I opened it last night. It got to be wicked hot in here." With that the lemur walked to the door and left the shop. There was a loud silence that then followed.

Marlene and Skipper glanced at each other.

"I saw what I thought I saw, didn't I?" Marlene questioned. Skipper shook his head but the shock was still on his face.

"Affirmative. We've just witnessed a peace treaty of… disturbing proportions." The penguin responded. "I will be seeing that in my sleep tonight."

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Review! LONG LIVE ROCK!


	8. Royal Romance

Hello everyone! Sorry about the wait. I've been busy.... Now, in this chapter, the animals at the zoo are pretty shocked at Sheba and Julien's newfound relationship but it brings out old scars for Skipper... Enjoy.

As I rampage over this city, alls CJzilla has to roar is this: R&R! Love... hate... review.

**AN: First off, this chapter's a TAD more serious than the previous chapters; at least that's how I feel. And secondly, there is a LOT of dialog in this one, so expect some scrolling. And finally, the "dear reviewers" will be CONTINUED! YES! So let me get started!**

_Sydney:_ _Thanks for reviewing! I know it's hard to picture Julien and Sheba together but you'll be able to visualize it more as the chapters progress._

_Dreamer-by-Day: You changed your penname! *gasp*! Okay, I'll change it too in the next chapter. Jeba... I like that one. Thanks for reviewing!_

_MileyGirl 13: I know! Julien and Sheba are together! XD It get's me all fuzzy inside! Ok, that may just be lunch..._

_LM1991: Here's another chapter!_

_HyenaGirl: Kowalski ROCKS!_

_writtensofine67: Sorry for the lateness. Busy, busy, busy..._

_porsche101: Thanks for ALL of your reviews! Here's another chapter for you!_

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Chapter 8

_Royal Romance_

Aside from the steady flow of visitors to the zoo, all was relatively quiet for the animals. Skipper had related to his team what he and Marlene had seen this morning. Even just _hearing_ about it made his squad speechless with surprise. Sheba and Julien… _together_?!

"It's highly unreasonable, Skipper." Kowalski gave his leader a firm disbelieving stare even as zoo patrons looked on. "Why, less than twelve hours ago, Sheba and Julien were at each other's throats! How such feelings of hostility could transform into amorous affections in that short amount of time is unsound."

Skipper kept a long-lost stare on the people crowded outside of their enclosure.

"I saw it, Kowalski." The lead penguin responded. "And so did Marlene. If it wasn't for her being there, I might be questioning what I saw even more."

Private looked up at Skipper.

"But you _are_ certain? I have to agree with Kowalski, Skipper; it's just too ludicrous." The smaller, youngest penguin voiced. Skipper looked down at Private.

"Crazy insane, perhaps, but it's the truth." He returned. Then he shrugged. "After hours, I might pay Ring Tail a visit and get the full scoop from him."

"Yes. Hearing this outrageous story from one of the key subjects would certainly clear up this confusion." Kowalski returned his eyes to the throngs of people clamoring for their attention. Skipper gave another shudder.

"I'm mystified, boys; mystified and horrified at the same time." He stated. "It's like night and day but more sick and disturbing."

"SICK!" Rico chirped before he continued to stare at the sun.

The lemur habitat was bizarrely quiet. Not a sound was heard save for the city breeze whispering through the trees. That immediately set the penguins on edge when they entered the lemur exhibit. Flipping onto the raised platform, where the lemurs could usually be found, they came upon Maurice and Mort playing a quiet game of cards.

"Hello Maurice! Mort!" Private waved, happy to see some normal looking faces. The two lemurs jumped to their feet.

"_Shh_!" Maurice gestured. Then he cupped his paw to the side of his face. "Julien's sleeping."

The penguins' eyes got wide. Julien NEVER napped! He was always bursting with energy and attitude.

"For how long, Maurice?" Skipper narrowed his eyes at the aye-aye. Maurice stole a glance at the clock in the middle of the zoo.

"Since we got him back here. Four, going on five hours." He responded.

"Odd." Kowalski mumbled. "Very uncharacteristic for Julien."

Maurice scoffed.

"You got that right!" He said quietly. "Julien just curled up on his chair and hasn't moved."

"Makes you wonder what happened in the gift shop…" Skipper held his flipper to his face thoughtfully. Mort and Maurice stared at the penguin.

"Did that really happen? I mean-… are you SURE you saw what you saw?" Maurice questioned Skipper. The lead penguin looked up.

"I saw what I saw what I saw." Skipper responded. "Sheba and Julien were sleeping side to side; romantic like."

An unsettling silence circled the animals. Then they all heard a loud yawn. From just beyond Julien's throne and out from behind a privacy screen, the ring-tailed lemur emerged. Julien still looked tired even as he stretched and shook his fur.

"Uh… good morning, your highness." Maurice tripped over his words. Julien sat on the ground and staring off, still half asleep. "You sleep well?"

A goofy smile spread across Julien's face.

"Yup." He returned, rather silly-like. Plopping down on his back, the lemur looked up into the sky, his foolish expression lingering.

Then the penguins congregated around the lazy, silly ring-tailed lemur, concern all over their normally serious faces.

"What happened last night, Ring Tail?" Skipper point-blankly questioned. Julien gave a wide smile as soon as he saw the penguins.

"Well, hello neighbors!" The lemur chirped. "Pleased to be seeing you on dis fantastic-ally awe inspiring day!"

The penguins glanced at each other; frightened looks on their faces.

"Focus, Ring Tail." Skipper gestured to his eyes. "We need a full report on what happened last night."

A sly smile came over Julien's face.

"Wouldn't you like to be knowing." The lemur returned. With that wily expression over Julien's face, and after glancing at Mort and Private, Skipper felt it was best to let that question go.

"Fine. But tell me this, Ring Tail: are you and Queeny on good terms now?" He pointed a flipper in Julien's face. The lemur gave a jovial laugh and sat up.

"The goodliest of good conditions!" The exuberant lemur king chirped. "I would go so far as to say dat we are…-"

Skipper whipped up a flipper. Kowalski plugged Private's ears as Rico picked up Mort and threw him off of the platform. Julien leaned toward Skipper with a big smile.

"Lovers." He whispered and then giggled. Skipper's eyebrows were high off of his face as was his teams' and Maurice's.

"Is THAT all?" Maurice said with dry sarcasm. Julien rose to his feet.

"Yes, dat is all. Which is reminding me of something. What time is it?" The lemur spun and looked to the zoo's clock. It was a quarter to noon; Julien gasped. "Maurice! De time escaped from me! I want you to be spreading de news! Queen Sheba is to be making an announcement with her lips! Quickly! She is making de declaration at NOON!"

The aye-aye scrambled out of the lemur habitat and went to tell the zoo animals. Julien turned to the penguins.

"Don't look so surprised, silly penguins!" He told them. "De sky spirits finally gave me a mate as incredible as me."

Puffing out his chest, Julien smiled.

"Now if you'll be excusing your king, I must freshen up my face before I see my queen again." The lemur made his way to the opposite end of the platform, leaving his penguin visitors.

Skipper turned to his team with an eerie neutral expression. Kowalski, Private and even Rico had violated looks on their faces.

"You could have prepared us for that, Skipper." Private's head sunk between his shoulders as he gave a shudder. Kowalski nodded.

"I agree with Private, Skipper." The brainy penguin winced. "Hoo! That will take some getting used to."

Skipper folded his flippers behind his back.

"There are some things I can prepare you boys for while there are others that are-… let's just say I can _never_ prepare you for." The lead penguin returned. His team shook their heads.

"But why would Sheba go for someone like Julien?" Private questioned. "She's so beautiful and Julien's… _Julien_."

The lead penguin looked the youngest in the eye.

"Love is a fickle master, Private. If everyone understood how it worked, we would have no need for things like-" Skipper began.

"War? Hate? Divorce? Internet dating sites?" Kowalski rattled off. Skipper gave a nod.

"Not what I was going for, but yes. I was thinking that there would be no more of those little heart-shaped chalk-like candies with "Hug Me" written on them." The lead penguin answered. The others gave agreeable nods. "Let's move out, boys. We have to attend Queeny's announcement too."

Roughly fourteen minuets later, the animals were all gathered in the lemur habitat, eagerly awaiting Sheba's arrival. The penguins were on the ground talking with the other animals, but Skipper couldn't help but watch Julien fuss over his appearance more than usual. He counted how many times the lemur adjusted his crown and how many times he asked Maurice if he had any fruit in his teeth. Skipper shook his head. Julien was even screwier than usual. On a dramatic side note, he couldn't help but remember his honeymoon with his ex-wife, Doll. The bobble-head stole his heart and then broke it too.

"Hey, Skipper." Marlene's voice brought him out of his thoughts. Cleaning his face of any traces of the blues, the penguin turned to the Asian otter.

"Greetings, Marlene." Skipper gave a nod. The female otter smiled as her eyes traced up Julien.

"He's a finicky love-sick lemur, isn't he?" Marlene asked. Skipper shook his head.

"ANYTHING Ring Tail does is fussy and overly-dramatic." He replied. Marlene giggled.

"Point taken. How did your team react when they found out?" She questioned. Skipper looked back to see Rico, Kowalski and Private talking to one of the elephants.

"They were horrified. Look at them! They're STILL shell-shocked. I doubt they'll get a peaceful moment without that trauma raising its ugly head!" He heard Marlene laugh.

"You're funny." She flicked his beak with a finger. Skipper blinked; was she flirting with him?

"What about you, Marlene? You seem to be taking this sick love-fest well." He asked. The otter gave a coy shrug.

"Blame it on the woman in me, but I find it sweet." Marlene replied, eyes on her feet. Skipper didn't know what to say to that without hurting her feelings.

"Well, in the light of Ring Tail's new-found heart, what do you think Sheba's announcement will be?" He changed the subject. Marlene giggled again.

"Maybe she's decided to stay with Julien and live here permanently." The otter returned. Skipper looked like he'd just swallowed an electric eel.

He hadn't thought of THAT! Holy horrible happenings! With both Sheba and Julien in one zoo, there would be no more peaceful moments!

"Oh my-…!" Skipper face-palmed. "There goes my blood pressure…"

Skipper felt another migraine coming on. The penguin rubbed his eyes hard, hoping that he was only in a bad dream. Suddenly Marlene clasped her paws on his head.

"Uh… Marlene? What are you doing?" Skipper questioned flustered.

Pulling away, he gave Marlene a funny look.

"Just massaging away your headache." She smiled brightly. Skipper felt his face get a little warn.

"Get rid of Ring Tail. That's a sure-fire way to get rid of my headaches." He managed a dry, bashful grin. Marlene giggled as Skipper turned his head and gave a cough.

He needed to be saved! By anyone! And as if an answer to his desperate thoughts, a shadow passed over the sun before a pretty vocalization was heard. The animals looked up and saw Sheba glide over their heads. The female bird of paradise flew over to Julien's tree and perched at the top of it. She gave a loud, energetic giggle as she looked down at everyone.

"Hello everyone!" Sheba greeted, giggling as she tried to keep her balance on the swaying branch. But then activity from Julien caught everyone's eyes.

"OOO! Sheba! Down here! It is I, King Julien! Your little love lemur!" The lemur was waving with such intensity that it appeared that he might dislocate his shoulder.

Finally Sheba collected herself enough to see Julien waving at her. She raised a wing and gave an equally happy greeting back to him. Suddenly she lost her balance and fell backwards, into the leaves of the tree. Gasps rang out before the usually graceful bird clamored back onto the tree bough, giggling loudly.

Skipper raised his eyebrows.

"She's in a good mood." Kowalski stated, standing at his leader's side. The lead penguin nodded.

"The madness is spreading." He then stole a glance at Marlene. Another exuberant giggle from Sheba.

"Thank you all SO much for coming!" The beautiful female bird was smiling ear to ear. Then she cleared her throat and straightened her posture. "I have an announcement and several apologies to make."

Eyebrows shot off faces. Sheba inhaled and collected her thoughts.

"I must apologize to all of you for my… less than queenly behavior over the past day." She gave a bashful smile towards Marlene and the penguins. "You've all been so hospitable and I feel ashamed because of my rude actions. So I am very sorry."

Silence… of the loudest magnitude.

"On that note, since it is my last day at this wonderful zoo, I've decided to make it up to everyone!" Sheba added excitedly, flapping her colorful wings. "I will be throwing a party tonight at my newly assembled queenly cage! There will be food, lights, music and dancing! Everyone is invited! And I mean everyone."

Her brown eyes rested on the lemurs as her smile tripled. Julien looked back at all the animals and pointed at himself.

"She be talking about _me_!" He said. The other animals just rolled their eyes.

"So invite everyone in the zoo! Everyone's invited!" Sheba chirped. "That is all!"

The surprised animals remained where they were standing for a moment more before they went on their way.

"I may be speaking out of turn here but I never thought I'd see this day." Private voiced in his soft British accent. A tad overly-dramatic seeing that the penguins knew Sheba for only a mere day and a half.

But as Skipper looked over his shoulder and watched Sheba jump down from her tree to fly-tackle Julien, what Private said really wasn't out of context.

"You and me both, Private. You and me both." The lead penguin stated as he and his team waddled back to their enclosure.

Evening roared toward the zoo with frightening speed, at least for one animal. Forcing himself to ignore the clock, Skipper tried his best to busy himself with other activities. But reality didn't escape him for long. Private tapped his leader on the shoulder. Looking up from examining a random blueprint, Skipper saw the youngest member of his team wearing a top hat and red bow tie.

"We're all ready to go, Skipper!" And then Kowalski and Rico appeared. Kowalski wore white cuffs and cufflinks along with an old dusty top hat that he last wore on their last trip to Europe. "Even Rico's all gussied up!"

The two stepped aside to show the living hammer-space of the team. Rico had his feathers combed sideways and flat on his head and smelt like three week old mushrooms soaked in fermented fish guts. Skipper tried not to make a disgusted face as Rico was quite fond of that the musky cologne.

"Well look at you guys." The leader tried to bite down the tears that the strong smell made in his eyes. "Just like Berlin '93!"

Rico giggled and shuffled his feet. Private's grin vanished when he saw that his leader wasn't ready to go to the party.

"Skipper? Aren't you coming?" The penguin cocked his head in confusion. Ah… the dreaded question; one that Skipper was prepared for.

"That's a negative, Private. I'm staying right here." He gestured to his feet, which were firmly planted on the ground. Objection showed itself on his team's faces.

"Not coming?" Private looked a little shocked and saddened. Skipper shook his head.

"And no amount of puppy-dog eyes can change my mind." He returned.

"But-!" Private protested but Kowalski put a flipper on the younger penguin's shoulder.

"Skipper's spoken, Private." The brainy penguin voiced. "We best be on our way. WE are going to be late."

Kowalski walked to the staircase while Rico grabbed his date, a plastic blond Barbie doll and Private looked at his leader. Skipper gave him a firm look and finally the youngest penguin relented.

"All right then, Skipper." Private cleaned his face and waddled to the door. "We'll bring you home a doggie-bag!"

"You do that, solider." Skipper called back as his team disappeared out of the manhole. Then the penguin sighed.

Turning away from the table, the lead penguin walked off to find a stiff drink.

Up top, Kowalski, Rico and Private lingered around the manhole, watching the doorway carefully just incase their leader changed his mind. After a couple long seconds, Kowalski gave a sigh.

"He's not coming." He remarked. Everyone was disappointed.

"Why is he not coming, Kowalski?" Private looked to his friend. The brainy penguin had an idea.

"All this romance has got our leader thinking of his ex-wife. That's my best theory, Private." Kowalski returned. The youngest penguin swallowed.

"Poor fellow." Private had a moment of sorrow for Skipper. And the three penguins took a step toward the water when Marlene jumped onto their little ice-like concrete platform.

The female Asian otter shook her fur and stood.

"Hey guys!" Then her nose caught whiff of Rico's cologne. "Oh! _What_ smells like roadkill?!"

"That would be Rico." Private pointed at the knife wizard. Rico gave a proud smile and held his doll date close.

Marlene cleaned her face and tried to smile through the foul smell.

"When I said "roadkill" I meant that in the best way possible." The otter corrected. Rico didn't seem to hear her as he cuddled with is doll. "I count three of you. Where's Skipper?"

Kowalski looked at Private and Private looked back.

"He's not coming." Kowalski stated. Marlene looked stunned.

"Why not? He's a great dancer!" She threw her arms into the air. The penguins thought it best to not breathe a word about their assumption of their leader's emotional state.

"We dunno. But if WE don't get moving, we're going to be late for the party." Private grinned. Marlene huffed and it was apparent right there that she wasn't going anywhere.

But if there was anyone to snap Skipper out of a funk, it was Marlene. The three penguins just grinned.

"All right. See you and Skipper at the party, then." Kowalski tipped his hat and walked toward the water. The others followed him, snickering to themselves.

Marlene stood there, arms crossed and wondering what they were laughing about. She watched them zip into the water and then scamper off toward Sheba's temporary enclosure. As the music pulsed through the air, the otter set her sights on the manhole just under a fake fishbowl. A strange anger washed over her as she kicked the manhole open and descended the metal steps.

Skipper heard the manhole open and he tore his eyes off of the blueprint. He was surprised to see Marlene climb down the steps and into the HQ.

"Marlene?" He blinked. "What are you doing here?"

The otter dropped down the last two steps and landed on her feet. By the look on her face, Skipper could see she was stubbornly annoyed. Whatever she wanted, she was going to get.

"I should ask you the same thing." Marlene walked toward him. "The only party that Julien is NOT throwing and you're HERE!"

Skipper swallowed the lump of nervousness forming in the back of his throat.

"It's just a party. It's not like we don't get a lot of those around here." He returned, trying to match her stubbornness. Marlene rolled her amber eyes as she stood in front of him.

"That's not the point. I want to know why you're not coming." She folded her arms. Skipper's eyes narrowed.

"I have my reasons." He grumbled. Marlene looked over his shoulder and saw the blueprint and drink.

"I'm counting the reasons and-…" She held up two fingers. "They're not valid."

"Not valid?!" Skipper repeated, throwing his flippers into the air. "They're completely valid! And are you going to kill me if I don't show up to ONE little party?"

"Yes. Because you have to get over your fear of relationships." Marlene frankly stated. Skipper's mouth closed tight; she hit his problem on the head. "I haven't known you for very long, Skipper, but I think I know you well enough to see the fear and anger in your eyes when Julien and Sheba started getting close."

The penguin's eye twitched.

"And going to a party will solve my problem?" He returned, folding his flippers over his chest. Marlene's eyes panned off of him for a short second.

"I just want you to come to grips with your little fear." Then she looked a little fearful herself. "I want you to see that there is someone else out there for you."

Now Skipper eyebrows rose. Marlene was coming on pretty fast; she'd gotten a lot more… warm toward him since this morning. He _wouldn't_ forget the brief head massage and the offer to get rid of his headaches. That was on top of the fact that he knew of her affections for a while now. But since he was burned with his past relationship, he was too scared to pursue another.

Marlene studied her words' effects on the male penguin. He looked surprised and she immediately cursed herself for coming on too fast. She couldn't get Skipper out of her head since last night, when he danced with her. And this morning he told her that she was perfection to him. Marlene knew that she was up to her neck in love.

"But-… it doesn't mean a thing for that someone else if you're too afraid to let yourself love again." The otter dropped her amber eyes. Another loud silence circled the area.

Finally words found Skipper again.

"Well…" Marlene looked up at him. Skipper's eyes were closed. "I can try… but that doesn't mean I'll be any good at it."

When he opened his eyes, he didn't know what to expect. Marlene's face brightened considerably and his own chest felt lighter. Giving a sigh, knowing that he had to face his fears, Skipper stretched out his flipper.

"I'm going to a party. Would you like to come with me?"

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Review! LONG LIVE ROCK!


	9. Brids and Mammals

Hey everyone! Well... I'm not going to waste your time telling you how sorry I am that this chapter took so long to get up... so I won't. Now, in this chapter relationships blossom but there is a danger that no one saw coming... Enjoy!

As I rampage all over this city, alls CJzilla has to roar is this... R&R! Love... hate... you know how I roll...

AN: Since it's been so long, I've lost track of the reviews. So... I'll do a "dear reviewers" next time...

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Chapter 9

_Birds and Mammals_

Skipper walked with Marlene through the dark, steadily nearing the pulsing side of the zoo. This side of the compound was silent and why wouldn't it be? Anyone and everyone were there at Queen Sheba's party.

Both otter and penguin were unusually quiet. Marlene was in a stunned silence that Skipper had agreed to love… again. Skipper was in a panicked hush because he'd _agreed_ to love again. A knot had seized his stomach with such strength, he nearly flashbacked into his past. His archenemy, the insidious Dr. Blowhole, sent a brick into the pit of his belly; but nothing like this. Skipper made this walk a million times at night and during the day but this one was nearly too much for the seasoned penguin leader. With Marlene at his side and the feeling of vulnerability that only love could induce, every step he took, he came closer to running back to base shrieking like a little girl.

"Nice night, huh?" Marlene observed. Skipper didn't notice that his eyes were on his feet until he brought his head upwards and looked at his spunky walking companion.

The penguin's face twisted into a scowl.

"Why do you do this to me?" Skipper growled. The amber-eyed semi-aquatic mammal gave him a bemused look.

"What am I doing to you?" Marlene asked stupidly. Skipper shut his eyes.

The female otter was able to read him like a book and NOW she chose to ignore his turmoil.

"You torture me. You sick, mammal female; you _TORTURE_ me!" He wailed, throwing his flippers in the air. Marlene stopped walking but Skipper knew that if he stopped now, he'd be running back to HQ.

"Torture? We're just walking to a party! What's torturing you?" The otter set her paws on her hips. Skipper slowed his gate and spun around but didn't stop walking.

"THIS!" He gestured again, motioning at the air between him and Marlene. Finally dropping back down to reality, Marlene's face cleared of that airy, thoughtful look.

"What's torturing you?" She asked a rhetorical question as she shortened the distance between her and her reluctant… unofficial boyfriend. "It's not rocket science, Skipper. I like you and you like me."

Then she trailed off as she was once again at the male penguin's side. Skipper noted the pensive yet terrified look on Marlene's face.

"You do like me… Don't you?" For a long moment, Marlene became scared and insecure; reverting back to a quivering adolescent otter that was afraid of being crushed by her crush.

Skipper paused as nervousness crept into his body and hitched his breath within his throat.

"Yyyyyyy-…" He too trailed off. _Mouth dry… throat tightening… can't-… breathe!_

"Skipper!" Marlene spun him with amazing strength. She clasped his shoulders and looked him deep in the eyes. "Answer me."

The penguin's face twisted again, he being so nervous that his numerous years of being trained to hide one's emotions was falling through the cracks.

"This is all wrong, Marlene." Skipper moved out from under her paws. "I'm self-destructive and inconsistent when it comes to serious relationships. My attention is always divided; between my team and being leader, any time in between is all-… its all-…! There's no _time_ for a woman!"

The otter's face fell. Skipper sighed again, passing a flipper over his head.

"The truth is, Marlene…" He managed to add. "I don't want to… go through that… and drag you with me."

This was seriously leaving a bad taste in his mouth. Fear was icing up his body and making him cold once again. For a moment, even if it lasted for five minuets, Skipper was reheated at the prospect of pursuing a relationship with Marlene. Yet reality soon closed in over the moment. Any relationship Skipper touched… would end in disaster. He'd always be an insensitive and lonely jarhead married to his work who wished he was brave enough to give love another chance.

"I think this is worth it." The otter's tone revealed that she was indifferent to his fears. "No relationship created is problem free and I'm prepared for that. But to me, you're worth it, Skipper."

From panning over the cobblestone pathway, Skipper's sapphire eyes came back up to Marlene. The otter was fidgeting, keeping her glance on the ground.

"But like I said back at your place…" Marlene twiddled her fingers. "It doesn't mean a thing if you're too afraid to let yourself love again."

If there were magic words that existed, the female otter spoke them. Though fear was still inside him, it had shrunk considerably and retreated. Gradually, feeling come back to Skipper's heart.

"You are one nutty dame." He felt himself say as a smile spread over his beak. "Crazy stubborn, persistent and a brilliant torturer… but still… brilliant."

Marlene looked up to catch the penguin move towards her and hug her. Surprise stiffness instantly gave way into a melting feeling. Skipper's strong flippers and to a greater extent, his heart, finally wrapped around her.

"And as an answer to your question: yes. I do care about you. For a while now, actually." He pulled away just enough so he could look her in the eye. "Now let's get going. I want to cut a rug."

The otter's cheeks heated and her elated coyness closed off any chance of her speaking for the rest of the walk. Taking her by the paw, Skipper led his new girlfriend toward the music. Even at this distance, the beat was loud enough to rock the walkway.

Sheba's temporary enclosure flunked the permanent enclosures at the zoo. The huge cage was nearly two stories high and nearly fifty feet across. Lights of all sizes and colors hung around it as seven large speakers hung from the plastic boughs of the artificial tree inside the enclosure. The bigger animals; the elephants, gorillas, giraffes, ostriches and kangaroo were outside of the cage but still having a good time. Skipper and Marlene didn't go unnoticed. Walking hand in hand, er… I mean, flipper in paw, both got knowing looks from some of the zoo's long-time residents.

"It's 'bout r'ight time you two got togeth'eh." Joey the usually territorial kangaroo gave them an irritated look.

"Congrats, yous two." Bing the gorilla saluted, dancing with a banana.

"Wishing you good graces." An elephant tipped her trunk to them.

"M'ANY… BABieZ!" An ostrich squawked. Though well-meaning, the big bird prompted Skipper and Marlene to flee into the cage, faces burning red.

Once inside, Skipper shook his head and the blush from his face. Marlene merely grinned back at him before the party caught her attention. Kowalski was DJing again, his top hat tipped nearly over the shades he was wearing over his eyes. Rico was feverishly dancing with his plastic doll and Private looked like he was enjoying the full buffet. Chameleons of all sizes flicked in and out of sight, their skin pigments rabidly changing color with the beat of the music. Maurice and Mort were busting a move and enjoying a Julien-free dance.

Speaking of Julien, the self-proclaimed king suddenly appeared out of the densest part of the fake tree, dancing with all his heart. Sheba then hopped out of the cluster of fake leaves and zipped up to the lemur. They danced close and hard before the bird of paradise and lemur changed branches.

"You wanna dance?" Skipper called to Marlene over the music. The otter dragged him onto the dance floor; _that_ answers that.

Chimpanzees, Mason and Phil stood off to the side, eloquently sipping their bubbly apple cider. They watched Skipper and Marlene dance.

"Ah… Finally the love-bug has come full circle, wouldn't you agree Phil?" Mason quirked a brow at his friend. The other ape began signing in American Sign Language. "No words truer spoken, my friend. Love eluded those two for too long."

Phil then signed another sentence and Mason's mouth curled into a grin.

"Well, of course we'll end the evening with a bang!" The brownish chimpanzee then raised his wine glass. "We shall fling poo at the zookeepers' break room."

The party progressed deep into the night. Most of the animals had left, partied out. Only the lemurs, penguins, otter and bird of paradise remained. Standing off to the side, the foursome of penguins, one female otter and two lemurs watched Julien and Sheba slow dance. Their eyes were closed as they held each other tight, swaying to a slow song. By looking at Sheba and Julien now, no one would have guessed that just a day ago, they wished a thousand deaths on each other. But there was a sad note that hung in the air. It was Sheba's last day here in New York. And even though the other animals knew the lemur king and bird of paradise queen were soon to part, Julien and Sheba never breathed a word.

"Pity that she has to leave on her tour again." Private sighed, his flippers limp at his side. Kowalski shrugged, the tips of his flippers numb from spinning records.

"Well, it has been an interesting period, hasn't it?" The brainy penguin mused. "Upon the beginning of this little escapade, you'd never think that two bitter enemies could turn into lovers. And now we are beholding a seemingly fruitful relationship."

There was an abnormal contented sigh from Skipper.

"Well, let's prolong the silence while we have it." The lead penguin voiced. "Because once those two separate, there's no living with Ring Tail."

Maurice groaned and clasped his paws over his ears.

"Don't remind me." The aye-aye complained. Hanging his head, he looked at Mort. "I'm going to hit the sack; get some sleep in while I still can. You comin'?"

The Goodman's mouse lemur beamed.

"But I want to watch King Julien!" The little, adorable lemur chirped. Maurice shook his head.

"Nah. He'll be in a mood in the morning. You should get some rest before he beats the candy out of you after Sheba's gone." The aye-aye suggested. If it was possible, Mort grew even more excited.

"I love it when he knocks me from habitat to habitat!" And he was the first out of the gate. Maurice gave the penguins and otter a lazy, nearly depressed wave.

"See you all in the morning." He stated, trudging for the exit. The penguins and Marlene waved.

"Good night, Maurice!" Marlene returned. "Pleasant dreams!"

Maurice waved one last time and walked off into the darkness. Now that he was out of earshot, the penguins and otter cringed.

"I'd sincerely hate to be Maurice right now." Private cringed. "Julien will be in sore straits come Sheba's absence."

"I do pity Maurice as well, Private." Skipper looked at his team. "But we are all in the same boat. Let's hit the hay before Julien's childish wails rob us of any quality sack-time."

The other penguins, save for Rico who was trying to slow dance with his doll, were looking sleepy-eyed.

"Will do, Skipper." Kowalski saluted. He then spun and slapped Rico. "Bedtime, Rico."

The crazy knife wizard pouted and gave a long, childish grunt. Skipper nodded toward the exit.

"Let's go Rico. You know curfew." He stated. Rico groaned and rolled his eyes before picking up his date and walking to the exit.

Finally, Skipper looked at Marlene.

"C'mon Marlene. I'll walk you to your habitat." The knowing snickers of his team didn't go unnoticed, despite being halfway out of Sheba's enclosure. "Get to HQ! Double time!"

With peeps of surprise Kowalski, Private and Rico darted out of the temporary habitat. Skipper narrowed his eyes at the exit, where his teammates fled through. A giggle from Marlene brought him out of his glare.

"Relax, Skipper." The female otter said knowingly. "They knew way before we did that we'd be together."

Skipper nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, but now there'll be no living with them." He waved his flipper in the direction of his home. Sighing, the penguin cleaned his face. "You game for a stroll?"

Marlene beamed and took his flipper.

"Always." She pulled herself close to him and put her head on his shoulder. A new yet old sensation filled Skipper; he was back in the crazy game of love.

The penguin and otter left the enclosure with Julien and Sheba still dancing to the slow music.

Julien had no idea of how much time passed but suddenly, he caught the quiet. Flicking his ear to the left, he realized that there was no more music and no more talking. Bringing his head up, the lemur king glanced around Sheba's enclosure. There was no one in sight.

"Why'd you stop?" He heard a lazy voice from under his chin. It was Sheba, still eager to slow dance, even to the silence.

"Dere is no music to bump to, my darling." Julien responded, resting his cheek on the top of the bird's head. "And no one is being here. We are unaccompanied."

Sheba opened her eyes and look around. The bird sighed heavily and put her head against her lover's chest.

"Tell me I don't have to go." She cooed unhappily. Julien pulled her tight and swayed a little.

"You won't be going anywhere." He returned as Sheba moved with him. The female bird of paradise was silent for a long moment.

"I have to leave in the morning, Julien." She added, her tone falling. At that back of his mind, the lemur knew Sheba had to be on her way; it was her duty as an Animal Ambassador.

"Dis I am knowing." Julien returned, his tone dropping too. Sheba pulled herself tighter to him.

"I don't want to. I'll miss you badly." Her voice quivered, trembling with tears. Julien frowned.

"Do not be crying de tears, Sheba." He told her. "We do not have to be parting yet."

The bird of paradise sighed, her big brown eyes leaking with tears.

"One more dance, my king?" She brightened. The lemur smiled.

"Sure thing." He returned.

But as they swayed to the silence, something caught their ears. A hissing, grating sound, coming from beyond the lights. Both royals looked up as the hissing suddenly turned to a snickering laughter.

"Can I cut in?" Mirrored, nocturnal eyes of a serpent reflected the bright lights. Julien and Sheba stiffened as an orange, brown, black and tan constrictor came into the open.

"Crazy Calvin…" Julien swallowed, recognizing the aggressive and psychotic constrictor from the reptile house. The large snake coiled his lithe body into a sitting position.

"Am I crazy to obey what Mother Nature intended?" The constrictor drawled out his "s"s, his forked tongue tasting the air. "I eat to live and live to eat."

The lemur king jumped in front of the bird of paradise.

"Quickly, Sheba!" He whispered. "Get to de door as fast as you can."

The queenly bird gasped.

"I won't leave you!" She panicked. Crazy Calvin just laughed.

"I want nothing to do with you, lemur." And the snake began uncoiling. "I want the bird. Something so beautiful and graceful is bound to taste good."

And Calvin's body tensed, his sharp eyes locked onto both of them; an attack was imminent. With Sheba's mind suddenly blank, Julien had enough sense to react. Grabbing the bird, the ring-tailed lemur pounced upwards, landing on one of the plastic tree boughs. Calvin merely followed. Julien pushed Sheba to the next branch.

"Get to de door!" He rushed, knowing the snake was again within striking range. Following a gasp, Sheba finally snapped open her wings and flew the thirty feet to the enclosure's entrance.

Looking over her shoulder, the female bird of paradise saw Julien scrambling after her, the constrictor close behind. In mid-air, just as the lemur's feet left the last branch, Calvin followed and wrapped his bone-crushing coils around him. They bounced to the leaf-covered ground. But the snake never tightened his grip. Instead, the serpent dragged Julien to the door and flicked him into the darkness of the outside. Landing with a thud, his leafy crown landing elsewhere, Julien remained on his back as vertigo made his mind spin.

Sheba saw everything but being as inexperienced as she was, she was stricken with fear. Calvin used his muscular tail to swipe shut the cage door. It closed with a loud metal bang as the locking mechanism snapped tight. Then he turned his reflective eyes back to the bird of paradise.

"Now… where were we?" His mouth, full of backward-facing teeth, began to salivate. Sheba obeyed her instincts…

Zipping into the air, the bird fled, screaming for help. The snake patiently followed and waited for the jumpy queen to get tired.

Julien heard his queen screaming. The lemur pushed himself to his feet and looked up. Sheba was on the top bough of her plastic tree with Crazy Calvin casually slithering upwards to get her. Julien's breath hitched in this throat as he ran back to the entrance to the enclosure. He pushed on the metal door but found that it would not budge. Mind racing for options, his thoughts came to one bird in particular… actually, make that four. Julien sprinted toward the penguin enclosure, desperately needing Skipper and his team.

But Skipper was still walking Marlene to her habitat, unaware that Crazy Calvin had got out of his pen, let alone that he had his sights on Sheba.

Otter and penguin were walking stiffly, paws and flippers pressed tightly to their sides. From the party, things only seemed to get awkward between them again. It was the worry of this new relationship progressing too fast. But that didn't mean all was silent. Skipper was doing his best to make light of the situation by cracking off jokes and Marlene was doing her best to force out laughter.

"-as was native custom to gulp down the entire jug of fermented juice. And I'm pretty sure that's where the term "don't look a gift horse in the mouth" was coined from." The penguin squeezed out a chuckle as Marlene smiled.

"And did he? Drink all that fermented juice?" The otter questioned, trying her best to stay involved in the story.

"In three swigs." Skipper gave her a proud smile. "Private proved that he was no pushover that day. But ever since, he's always been a little leery when we pull into a foreign land."

"Wow." Now Marlene was genuinely impressed. "You certainly know how to pick your teammates."

Skipper chuckled.

"I don't do the picking." He suddenly stopped, seeing as they were at Marlene's enclosure. "They usually pick me."

He gave her a wide smile that the otter couldn't help but blush to. Suddenly she wished the walk was longer, despite their nervous energies.

"Well, Skipper, this is my stop." She looked him in the eye and smiled. "Thank you."

"It has been a momentous night, hasn't it?" The penguin's swagger seemed unswayed as he stepped closer to her. "And my gut tells me there's more to come."

He embraced her. Marlene hugged him back. Suddenly, Skipper stiffened.

"Do you hear that?" He left her arms and looked into the darkness… Back at Sheba's enclosure.

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Review! LONG LIVE ROCK!


	10. Serpent's Den

Hola Saints and Sinners! Two months... does that sound right? Two months? Tsk. And it was a bloody fight to get this story to cooperate with me. Without futher ado... here's the next chapter... In this update the animals rush to save Queen Sheba from the coils of a bloodthirsty snake. Will they succeed?

As I rampage all over this city, alls CJzilla has to roar is this...: R&R... Love... hate... review.

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Chapter 10

_Serpent's Den_

Skipper heard his name being called inside the dark of the night. It was Private… exclaiming his leader's name over and over. Quirking a brow, Skipper placed his flipper in his mouth and gave a loud whistle.

"We're over here!" He took a few steps away from Marlene and tried to peer into the blackness.

"What is it?" The Asian otter placed a paw on her boyfriend's shoulder. Skipper shook his head before he heard some leaves rustling.

Suddenly Julien dropped down from the tree above them, instantly scaring both penguin and otter.

"Jeeze _Louise_! Ring Tail! _What_-?!" But the spoiled lemur cut him off, a panicked look in his golden eyes.

"_Quickly_! Come with me!" Julien hurried, grabbing the penguin by the flipper. Skipper immediately dug his heels into the walkway.

"Slow down, lemur!" He snapped, yanking his flipper out of the lemur's grasp. And then Kowalski, Rico and Private darted into the light.

"Skipper! It's Queen Sheba!" Private zipped into his leader's face. Skipper and Marlene were at a loss.

"Is she out of bubble-?" The lead penguin clearly didn't understand what his team and Julien were all upset about.

"Crazy Calvin escaped from his pen!" Kowalski spat out, interrupting his leader. Skipper's eyes went wide. "And he somehow found his way into Sheba's cage!"

Without skipping a beat, the lead penguin darted through his team and toward Sheba's enclosure.

"LET'S MOVE!" Skipper barked his voice going straight and loud. Kowalski, Private and Rico zipped close behind while Julien darted back into the treetops again. Marlene was left in the darkness, almost in a stupor.

Crazy Calvin was the most aggressive, blood-thirsty reptile in the entire zoo! The boa constrictor enjoyed wanton killing and watching his victims slowly suffocate to death as his powerful coils squeezed the life right out of them. And he found his way into _Sheba's_ cage! The otter's breath caught as she ran as fast as she could after the penguins.

"_Who_ let Calvin out of his cage?!" Skipper snarled as he slid over the walkway on his belly. He bounded up a light pole and darted over three enclosures.

"He _had_ to have broken out!" Kowalski returned, right behind his leader. "With everyone at Sheba's party, he could have easily slinked into her enclosure. Where he waited until she was alone."

Skipper cursed under his breath.

"Use extreme caution and deadly force if you have to!" The lead penguin called over his shoulder to his team. "Calvin will take a jab at anything."

Finally, they were only a few yards from Sheba's cage. As they closed the distance, the penguins could hear the bird of paradise scream and her beautiful wings flapping rapidly. Julien was all ready there; being so skilled and fast in the treetops, it didn't take him that long to get around. Skipper ignored the lemur's presence and immediately targeted the cage door. He charged the enclosure's entrance and upon impact, knew that it was locked. The rest of Skipper's team slammed onto him and thusly the door, learning the hard way that it was shut tight.

"Rico! Get this door open _pronto_! Kowalski, assist him!" Skipper spat. Rico spat up a bolt cutter and wasted no time in grasping the first screw. "Private! Up top!"

The youngest penguin nodded and scaled the structure with ease, Skipper right behind him. When they came to Julien, positioned at the top of the enclosure, he hand both of his hands through the small spacing of the cage's links. He was holding Sheba. The bird of paradise was fear-stricken, clinging to the top of her cage, her beautiful feathers akimbo and a panicked frenzy in her brown eyes.

"Queeny!" Skipper's mind assessed the situation and a raw fear bit his brain.

"What are you doing up here, _penguin_?!" Julien snarled, a justified anger clearly seen on his fearful face. "Get her _out_ of dere!"

"We're working on it!" Skipper returned, clamoring to grab Sheba. "Hold her! Give her a second to breathe!"

Julien, Skipper and Private held the female bird of paradise to the top of the cage, giving her a brief rest.

"Help me! _Help_ me, _PLEASE_!!" Sheba pleaded, panting through the tears streaming down her face.

"We're here, Sheba!" Private put a flipper on her wing. "And we're not going to let anything happen to you!"

The female bird was breathing heavily, exhaustion and terror making it hard for her to think.

"_Please_! Help me! He's going to **kill** me!" She pressed her ornate forehead to the cage and sobbed. Julien pressed his head to hers.

"No one will bring harm to you, Sheba." He soothed, feeling her feathers through the tight links of the enclosure "We-"

Suddenly, Sheba let out a gasp cutting off Julien mid-sentence. She shoved away from the cage and fell, leaving some of her beautiful feathers in her friends' grasp. And instantly Crazy Calvin darted out of the darkness. The large snake hit the cage where Sheba was hanging onto only milliseconds before. The constrictor had time to bare his spiky maw at Julien, Private and Skipper before he too, fell.

Sheba didn't have time to right herself as she dropped through the plastic leaves of her fake tree. Hitting hard, she landed on the mulch covered ground. Reality twisted as she felt the brunt of her fall. She was so tired; she just wanted to go to sleep. The bird of paradise foolishly allowed her eyes to close.

Crazy Calvin steadily descended the fake tree, ignoring the profanities, threats and calls from the penguins and lemur "king". The bird of paradise was drained. It wouldn't be long before he felt her beautiful body between his coils and her delicate bones snap under his muscles.

Skipper, Private and Julien dropped to the ground, knowing that the snake only had a few feet to go before he was on the dazed queen. Rico had cut through one layer of fencing and was working on the next. They were nearly through.

"Speed it **up**, _Rico_!" Skipper barked. Rico grunted, signifying that he was working as fast as he could.

The still had to bust through the big lock. The penguins peered into the enclosure, watching Sheba slightly stir.

"Sheba! _Sheba_, GET UP!" Private shouted to her. "GET UP! HE'S RIGHT ABOVE YOU!"

"C'MON QUEENY!" Skipper fumed, hitting the cage, trying to wake her. "Get to your feet! We're almost through!"

They all gasped as they saw Calvin's snaky form break the last leafy bough.

"Don't touch her!" Julien was livid. "Don't you _DARE_ touch a feather on HER!!"

The constrictor didn't even acknowledge the lemur as he dropped to the ground. The fight became even more desperate as the snake was immediately within striking distance to Sheba.

"**SHEBA**!" They all shouted. "_MOVE_!"

With the racket; the banging on the cage and the yelling, the bird of paradise finally opened her brown eyes. To her horror, Calvin was towering over her, his upper body raised and poised to bite into her. The bird shrieked and scrambled to get away. This time, Calvin would not have her fly off. Just as Sheba's feet left the ground, the constrictor's fangs dug into the back of her neck. They'd scarcely hit the ground before Calvin had wrapped his body around her. They bounced out of the light and into the shadows.

Sheba's rapid gasps and shrieking were suddenly muffled before being altogether silenced. An eerie still happened upon all of the chaos.

"He's _on_ her!" Skipper grunted. Everything was riding on Rico, who was snipping his way through the last two dead-bolts.

Seconds seemed like days before that last metallic ping of the final bolt clattered to the ground. Without hesitating, everyone barged into the enclosure and zipped into the shadows where Calvin and Sheba had landed. Past the harsh blare of the lights, the shadows were not as black as they appeared. Skipper, Kowalski, Rico and Julien could see Calvin's many glistening coils tightening and Sheba's elaborately colored tail feathers poking out from the snake's muscles.

"Release her, Calvin! _NOW_!" Skipper ordered. Calvin looked at them through cold, reflective, slitted eyes.

"You're too late!" The constrictor grinned, his powerful coils surrounding Sheba's body. "She's mine now."

It had to end now or Sheba would never survive the night. The animals charged the snake. Rico and Private attacked Calvin's crushing loops. They grabbed Calvin's tail and pulled, trying to loosen the pressure on Sheba's delicate frame. Skipper, Kowalski and Julien were dodging Calvin's fangs as he defended his prize. The constrictor would not have the interference. He would not have Sheba pulled from his grasp!

Yet Calvin felt his grip loosening as Private and Rico tugged on his tail and battered his coils. Rage gripped the serpent as he whirled around. Private moved as Rico barely escaped Calvin's hooked teeth. Rows of backwards-facing, needle-like teeth grasped nothing but air. That's where the serpent made his first mistake.

Skipper saw Calvin's outstretched, vulnerable neck. With a whistle into the air, he caught Rico and Private's attention. The two penguins only needed a single cue from their leader and they knew what to do. Rico jumped into Calvin's crosshairs and the snake lunged for him. Private cupped his flippers, giving his leader a foothold. Skipper took a run and planted a foot into Private's waiting flippers.

The penguin jumped into the air dove toward Calvin. Skipper buried the tip of his flipper between the base of the serpent's skull and his first neck vertebrae. In the same second, Rico kicked the side of the snake's head. With the combined forces, it was enough to break Calvin's spine and instantly destroy the blood-lustful serpent. Skipper rolled to the ground but hopped to his feet just as quickly.

Calvin lay still. But only half of the battle was won.

"Private! Rico! Stretch this snake _out_!" Skipper barked, instantly darting to the snake's now limp coils. Private and Rico took hold of the dead serpent's head and pulled, unwrapping the large snake.

Julien and Kowalski were all ready pushing the Calvin's heavy muscles off of Sheba. In seconds the queenly bird of paradise was free. Skipper's fear only intensified at what he saw. Sheba was bent unnaturally; her wings, neck, body and feathers were all crooked. But she was breathing. It wasn't a sight for the faint-hearted. And it didn't help the situation when Marlene, Mort and Maurice ran into the enclosure.

"PRIVATE!" Skipper bellowed, immediately getting the younger penguin's attention. "Take Marlene and Sad Eyes and sound the alarm! Get the zookeepers _out_ here!"

"Yes sir!" The youngest bird saluted and darted to Marlene and Mort. "C'mon! We have to get the zookeepers' attention!"

Marlene paused for a split second, trying to see the extent of the damage. But she was quickly whisked away by Private. The penguin, otter and lemur ran toward the zookeepers' break room. With three of the zoo's most sensitive residents gone, Skipper began barking orders.

"I want the perimeter sealed off! No one gets in! Ring Tail-!" The lead penguin turned toward his rival. Julien was at Sheba's side; silent hysterics behind his eyes as he watched her take those shallow breaths.

Sheba was closer to death than Skipper ever wanted anyone to know, and as precious seconds ticked by, the zoo was growing increasingly close to losing a queen.

Within minuets a zookeeper, on his night shift, ran to Sheba's enclosure. He found the Animal Ambassador in the coils of a dead snake. The zoo's veterinarian was contacted and Sheba was quickly pulled out of her enclosure and rushed to the Animal Care emergency room. The animals watched from the shadows. Fear had never released its grip. Sheba was in Calvin's coils for nearly one full minuet. But a snake Crazy Calvin's size could easily end an animal's life in half that time. The situation looked bleak, however, they had done all they could. It was in the hands of the vets and what they could do with Sheba's shattered body.

"I want the vet monitored at all hours." Skipper's voice cut through the fearful silence. "I'll take first watch. Kowalski, Private; I want all animals to be informed of the hour's events. Rico, you escort Marlene back to her habitat and then I want all of you to report back to base."

Skipper's dark blue eyes trailed to the lemurs. Maurice and Mort were sitting silently at Julien's side, ready to pounce at his smallest command. Julien, on the other hand, was staring at the vet's office, ears up and tail erect.

"There is nothing more anyone can do now." Skipper said in a firm, business-like tone. "It'd be in everyone's best interest if they return to their quarters until otherwise informed."

And, in very uncharacteristic behavior, Julien nodded.

"Agreed, penguin." The lemur's voice was tight with fear. Julien inhaled and held it in for a long moment and then the lemur hopped to his feet and grinned much like he normally did. "Enlighten me if even de slightest event happens."

He beamed. Then he snapped his fingers.

"Maurice! Your king has lost his crown; find it quickly." Maurice did his menial task with added motivation.

"Yes, sire." And the aye-aye hopped off of the brick wall and began combing the sidewalk for Julien's leafy crown. Julien turned to the penguin quartet and otter.

"Don't look so sacredly, subjects!" The lemur cheered. "My queen will recover quickly; she is royalty!"

Kowalski made a muffled squeak and Skipper snapped his eyes to the penguin. The brainy bird wanted to correct the childishly hopeful Julien but with the look he got from his leader, Kowalski submitted to a lie.

"We expect Sheba to make a full recovery as soon as possible." He nodded with a fake smile. Julien bought it.

"Fantastic!" The lemur beamed. "I shall be getting to my beauty sleep now. See you bright in de morning!"

With that he hopped into the nearest tree and bounded to the next. Mort followed, confused but nonetheless glad that his king wasn't affected by the attack on Sheba. For once, Skipper thanked Julien's fiercely babyish brain.

"Skipper?" Private's soft voice caught his leader's attention. "Will Sheba be all right?"

Ah… the dreaded question. Skipper paused for a moment. It was bleak; ridiculously bleak. And so he chose to redirect the question.

"Get hopping on my orders team." The penguin returned. "I want Marlene back in her habitat, safely."

Doing as they were told, Private got up and Rico helped Marlene to her feet.

"Skipper-…" Marlene brushed Rico's flipper off of her shoulder. The lead penguin looked back at her with a cocky smirk.

"As first dates go, this one is for the record books." Skipper scratched his chin. "I advise you to return to your home before fire and brimstone fall from the heavens."

For being just as stubborn as Skipper, Marlene allowed him to readdress her concerns. The otter sighed and then smiled.

"We should do this again real soon, huh?" She grinned. "I mean, without the snake and… you know-…"

"Absolutely." The penguin beamed. "Now, let Rico take you back home. I'll brief you once my watch is through."

The female otter nodded and turned. She slapped Rico on the shoulder and sighed.

"C'mon. We better do what the grumpy penguin wants." With a little chuckle from the psycho penguin, they jumped from the wall and walked off into the night.

Skipper looked at Private and Kowalski, the only ones remaining with him.

"Private, the ostrich pen is nearest to us; brief them." The lead penguin instructed. Private saluted slowly. "Kowalski will join you shortly."

"Yes, sir." And he slid to the sidewalk and darted off to the ostrich enclosure. Once Skipper was alone with Kowalski and Private was out of earshot, he let the seriousness of the situation grip him.

"I need statistics." He said. Kowalski's intelligent expression became fogged over with fear.

"You know, sir…" The brainy penguin began. "Sometimes I don't like having smarts."

The lead penguin shut his eyes and dropped his head.

"I figured a thirty percent chance of her survival." Skipper voiced.

"I calculated a fifteen percent chance, Skipper." Kowalski responded. "It is my opinion and estimation that Sheba will not-… will not survive surgery."

Skipper looked up at his teammate and friend.

"Understood." He acknowledged. Kowalski withheld a sigh. "And you know the drill, Kowalski?"

"Tell no one. Aye, sir." The brainy penguin answered. Skipper nodded.

"Good man. Continue with previous instructions." He instructed. Kowalski saluted and darted off after Private.

Alone and with silence closing in over him, Skipper turned his eyes toward the veterinarian building. The structure was ablaze with lights as human caregivers were arriving; Sheba's attack would be headline news; Skipper only hoped that her death would not be.

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Review... LONG LIVE ROCK!


	11. Queen

Hello there Saints and Sinners. This is the last update for "Renegade Royals"! Sad? Don't be. You'll see more of my work floating around FanFiction Land. In this last chapter, the zoo animals are faced with a furture involving a new addition and a new queen. Enjoy!

As I rampage over this city, alls CJzilla has to roar is this...: R&R! LOVE! HATE! YOU KNOW THE DRILL!

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Chapter 11

_Queen_

One week passed since Sheba's attack. There was both good news and bad news circulating through the Central Park Zoo. First and foremost, Sheba was alive. Against all odds; against being nearly crushed in the coils of a snake five times her size, the queenly bird of paradise had survived. And Sheba had regained consciousness about a day and a half ago. It was remarkable for such a spoiled and pampered creature. But come to think of it, if there was one thing that Sheba had, it was stubbornness.

Skipper stood inside the penguin enclosure, sipping on his tin cup filled with mackerel. He'd left Rico and Kowalski downstairs; Kowalski was running an experiment and Rico was enjoying the hiatus in activity by playing checkers with his doll girlfriend. Private, meanwhile, it was his watch. Skipper left Sheba's status in the youngest penguin's capable flippers. There'd been some news since Sheba's run in with the now deceased Crazy Calvin. The country of Papa New Guinea had learnt of their bird's "accident". And unfortunately, Sheba was rejected by the New Guinea government; now marked as "flawed and defective" the bird of paradise was surrendered to the United States. Sheba was no longer an Animal Ambassador but just another zoo resident. Skipper knew Sheba would take the news hard and he could only hope things would turn out right in the end.

The penguin was brought out of his thoughts when he heard the pitter-patter of dainty mammal feet on his concrete lookout. Smiling, Skipper coyly stirred his drink. Marlene; and right on cue.

"I thought you'd never drop by." He voiced, his visitor now within earshot. "You have no idea how unbearably uptight I get without seeing you."

"Aww. I was knowing you cared, silly penguin." Instead of Marlene, it was Julien. Skipper nearly dropped his cup, now aware he'd just accidentally sweet talked his rival.

Spinning, he saw the disgustingly oblivious look on the resident lemur king's face.

"Ring Tail? I thought you were _Marlene_!" The penguin spat out, feeling like he'd just offended himself. Julien just smiled sweetly and patted him on the head.

"See? Dere is softness under all dat angry." In typical Ring Tail style, he only heard what he wanted to hear. Skipper swatted away his hand and frowned.

"What are you doing here?" He cut to the chase. Julien's cheerful face fell a little.

"Your king just wishes an update on my queen." The lemur answered, sitting and curling his tail around his feet. Skipper sighed quietly and returned his eyes to the veterinary building.

"It is almost eleven, Ring Tail." The penguin remarked. "Private's shift will be over in fifteen minuets and we will have an up-to-the-minuet progress report on Queeny."

Julien fell silent as he stared off.

"I miss her." The lemur voiced. For once, Skipper softened towards his rival.

"We all do." He returned. "But keep your tail in the air. Sheba will recover and before you know it, she'll be with us again."

The ring-tailed lemur glanced up at his penguin friend and grinned. Skipper allowed a reassuring smirk before they both heard a splash. Turning, they caught a flash of brown and white fur jump to the concrete rise of the penguin habitat. Marlene the Asian otter shook the water from her buttery fur before standing.

"Hi guys!" She greeted, walking over to Skipper and Julien. Skipper's mood improved ten-fold as his eyes met his girlfriend's.

"Hiya Marlene." He greeted more casually than usual. The otter beamed.

Marlene glanced between Skipper and Julien, who was fidgeting with his nails. She bit down a laugh at the exasperated look her boyfriend gave her.

"Any new word on Sheba?" The otter asked, looping a paw around Skipper's flipper. The penguin shook his head.

"Private has fifteen more minuets to his watch, Marlene." He informed her. "As I was telling Ring Tail here-"

Just then Private's voice was heard.

"Skipper! Skipper!" The youngest penguin came gliding up to the habitat, catching Marlene, Julien and Skipper's attention.

"Private? You're fifteen minuets early?" Skipper gave him a funny look. But Private's face betrayed his news; it was bad.

"Skipper, I just overheard the medical staff talking!" The young penguin's expression was covered with fear. "Sheba hasn't eaten for _two_ days."

All eyes went wide.

"What?!" Julien hopped to his feet.

"It's true! The doctor said that Sheba has not touched her food in two days. What do we do Skipper?" Private pleaded, looking to his leader. Skipper's eyes were narrowed.

"We get into that veterinarian office and talk Queeny straight." The lead penguin returned. "I'll rally Rico and Kowalski. Private, take Marlene and Ring Tail to the hospital; I'll be right on your heels."

"Aye, sir!" Private saluted through the bars of the enclosure. But Julien was all ready bounding into the nearest treetop.

It was to be expected.

"See you there, Skipper." Marlene glanced at her boyfriend before diving into the water. Skipper darted to the fake fish bowl and kicked the hidden manhole open.

"Rico! Kowalski! Action time! Veterinary office; let's move out!" He hollered down the hole. Within seconds Rico and Kowalski popped out of the hidden lair.

"Ready to move sir!" Kowalski saluted as Rico spat up three grappling hooks. Grabbing theirs respectively, the three penguins grappled to the vet's office.

A balding man of dark complexion sighed as he checked the latest blood work of the zoo's most prized patient. The bird of paradise wasn't eating and she was weakening quickly. Given her already fragile health, the veterinarian knew that she'd only get worse if she wouldn't eat. She needed every ounce of strength for her injuries to heal properly. With his eyes cast on his clipboard, the man exited his office. Then he felt a strange pressure on the side of his neck before unconscious hit him like a hammer to a nail.

Skipper, perched carefully on one of the shelves of the vet's examination room had just knocked the zoo's veterinarian unconscious. With the man on the floor, the penguin joined his team, Julien and Marlene next to the doorway.

"Estimated duration of unconsciousness…" Kowalski doodled on his notepad. "Ten minuets forty five seconds."

"Swell." Skipper had hoped the doc would be out longer. "That means we have nearly eleven minuets to talk to Queeny. I say Marlene and Private go-"

"Before you start with de dispensing of undue instructions, Skipper," Julien cut him off, an unusual amount of sensibility in him, "I would like to be allowed a moment with my queen."

The animals looked at the lemur.

"You?" Private questioned.

"We need to build up Queeny's spirits, not drag her down, Ring Tail." Skipper folded his flippers. "No go. I'm sending in Private and Marlene."

Julien's golden eyes narrowed.

"Please?" The lemur returned. "I wish to speak with Sheba firstly."

And with the "P" word uttered, Skipper's mind was changed.

"All right then, Ring Tail. You've just bought yourself point." The lead penguin voiced thoughtfully. "You've got ten minuets starting now. We'll watch your back."

Julien nodded and zipped out the door and down the hall. He ran through the infirmary's doors and disappeared. Normally, when Julien volunteered to do something, it'd send a brick to Skipper's stomach, but strangely, the penguin felt nothing.

"I'm one to question you sir, but… was that… wise, Skipper?" Kowalski peeped.

"Uh-huh!" Rico grunted, looking concerned for a psycho. Skipper looked up at his team.

"I believe it's the right choice, boys." He returned. And his eyes settled on Marlene. "If I was in Sheba's situation, I'd want the closest person to me to be there."

A knowing silence filled the room as Marlene smiled at Skipper. He returned it with a flushed face.

"All right, we've got to watch Ring Tail's back." He cleared the air. "We have to keep Dr. Deranged and any other snoopy zookeepers out of his fur. Let's triangulate."

Julien entered the infirmary. A lump was strangely in his kingly throat, inhibiting his breathing. This would not do. The king never got scared! He must be a pillar of strength and manliness for his kingdom. Julien decided that he wasn't afraid of the infirmary; it was a place he'd seen before; but rather he was afraid of what had become of his queen. It was unlike Sheba to do something so foolish as to not eat!

Then he heard soft, delicate whimpering. His lump of fear turned into a rock and fell to his gut. The lemur quickly moved after the source of the weeping.

Sheba let her tears come through her tightly closed eyes; it was useless to hold back. Besides, no one was here with her and therefore, no one would see her queenliness crying. The female bird didn't want to open her eyes. She'd see her bandages, IVs and broken plumes. It disgusted her. Once beautiful but now a broken and ugly monster, it would please her to never open her eyes again.

"Sheba?" The voice of Julien thoroughly surprised her. Opening an eye, the bird of paradise glanced to the front of her dark cage.

"J-Julien?" She peeped as she rose her head. A lemur hand brushed away the blanket covering her cage and golden reflective eyes met hers.

"Sheba…" It was indeed Julien. "My queen, I-"

"I am no longer a queen!" Sheba snapped, retreating deeper into her cage. "I am no longer a queen and no longer fit to be one. Leave me here, Julien and do not look upon my embarrassment!"

Julien was unpleasantly surprised when he saw the many tubes running from his queen's body to the machines around her cage.

"Don't be foolish, my pigeon." The lemur reassured. "Dere is no one more fit to be my queen than you."

The bird only sobbed.

"The snake made me a monster." Sheba confessed. "I am no longer beautiful. I can't even fly. I am now a humiliation to myself. I wish to never leave this place!"

It was at that point that Julien grew angry.

"Untrue! De most untrue and erroneous words ever spoken!" He snapped. "You are no shame!"

Sheba stiffened before moving to the front of the cage and into the light. Julien couldn't help the shocked expression that came to his face. His queen was battered and broken. Her lovely tail feathers were ruined, her wings wrapped in bandages and unmovable, her chest and neck were plucked of her pretty plumes as stitches ran over her featherless skin. And her once lovely face was missing one of her beautiful eyes; stitches marred her eye-socket and half of her head.

"My beauty was all I had, Julien." She lamented, bowing her head at his stunned face. "Now I am nothing. I am no longer an Animal Ambassador or a bird of paradise; I am a monster that has brought infamy upon my country and friends."

Julien reached through the cage and touched her. The bird looked up at him with her single brown eye. The lemur brushed his crown off of his head and it fell with a hollow sound. Sheba watched as he pressed his forehead to the bars of her cage and closed his eyes.

"Sheba." He said. "To me, dere is no honesty to what you say. Regardless of what you think, you are my beautiful lover and my lovely queen. And will be for de eternity of forever."

The bird of paradise could say nothing in return to the lemur's wise words. Only a loopy smile was on her face as she pressed her head to his and let her tears come. Julien held her, easily looking past her stitches, broken feathers and bandages. Julien had found his queen and Sheba had finally found her partner.

Skipper paced the doctor's examination room, counting down the minuets in his head. Ring Tail had been gone for nine minuets now. Tracing his eyes back to the still unconscious veterinarian, he knew they were pressing their luck. Finally, Rico gave a squawk. Everyone looked up to see Julien run back into the room.

"Cut it close why don't you?!" Skipper barked at the lemur. Julien merely smiled.

"I am king. I take risks and look awesome doing it!" He posed. Though it royally annoyed him, Skipper knew by Julien's good mood that he and Sheba had gotten through to each other.

Just then the vet began to stir.

"Out the window! Move it!" Skipper ordered, practically throwing Julien at the window. The penguins, Julien and finally Marlene exited the veterinarian building.

Once outside, Kowalski remained on the window ledge as he observed the vet awaken.

"The veterinarian has come to, Skipper." The brainy penguin called down to his leader.

From the ground underneath the window, Skipper saluted.

"Golden." The lead penguin grinned. Then he turned to Julien. "You really came through, Ring Tail."

Julien brushed his fur vainly.

"And what other results did you expect?" He returned arrogantly. Skipper traded glances with his team and Marlene.

"The worst results possible." Private giggled. Julien frowned.

"Ha… ha… I am _sarcastically_ laughing at you penguins." The lemur rolled his expressive eyes. Then he got an odd, love-struck look on his face. "My queen will be back at my side soon, loyal subjects. Count on it."

And with that, Julien hopped onto the nearest wall, humming happily as he made his way back to his enclosure. Skipper, Marlene, Rico and Private could not stop smiling.

"Well I'll be plucked, stuffed and thrown into the oven." Skipper commented. "Ring Tail does have a heart."

Rico gasped dramatically, causing Private and Marlene to laugh.

Later that evening, a renewed sense of hope graced the zoo. During Rico's watch, the doctor reported that Sheba had begun eating again. Queeny was on her way to making a full recovery. Though Sheba was no longer an Animal Ambassador and no longer able to travel, she would remain here at the Central Park zoo with Julien and the rest of the animals.

"There goes the silence." Skipper said to himself, a smirk on his face. The lead penguin was perched on a wall, near the Animal Care building.

It was his watch and the ever alert penguin knew that he wasn't alone. Julien had been sitting in a tree near the infirmary, just waiting for the vet staff to leave so that he may have some alone time with Sheba. Skipper doubted if Ring Tail had seen him; the lemur was focused on getting back into the structure to see his queen. Romantic, in only a way that two spoiled crybabies can be.

"Is this seat taken?" Marlene's voice made Skipper visibly jump. Juggling his binoculars, the penguin did catch the otter laughing at him. "Not paying attention, Skipper? WHAT would your team say?

"They will say nothing because you… will tell them _nothing_." Skipper glared at his girlfriend. The otter giggled and sat next to the bossy penguin.

"Lighten up. Sheba's going to be fine. Just drop the binoculars for two seconds." She told him, a sly smile on her face. Skipper glanced between the veterinarian building and his beautiful female partner.

"Just for a second." He relented as he sat and set the binoculars to the side. Marlene grinned, resting her head on his shoulder.

"See? Now was that so hard?" She joked, closing her eyes.

"Not necessarily." Skipper responded. Slowly, the lead penguin relaxed and let his head rest on Marlene's. "We better enjoy the quiet while we have it. Because in a few short weeks, when Sheba and Julien are both at full strength, we'll never hear silence again."

Marlene giggled her acknowledgement.

"I dunno, Skipper." The otter replied. "I'd say that there will be more silence for now on. Since Julien and Sheba have each other, they're going to be too happy to have time to whine."

Her undertone flirting never passed over Skipper's head.

"But this is Ring Tail we're talking about." He looked to the lemur who was anxiously pacing a window ceil. "When he's happy, he talks a lot."

Marlene looked up at Skipper.

"You talk a lot when you're happy." She smirked. Skipper felt his feathers flush.

"Negative." He choked out, avoiding her eyes. "I'm always… like this."

The otter was now laughing at him, making the penguin's cheeks burn hotter. Skipper's poker face, even when used on his own team, was candidly effective. But when he was with Marlene, his training melted into an incoherent puddle of mixed upheaval. Finally the Asian otter stopped her laughter and wiped her eyes.

"Oh, Skipper." Marlene sighed pulling herself closer to the penguin. "Thank your fears and cutting yourself another chance at love."

Looking down at his girlfriend, Skipper couldn't help a fuzzy smile coming to his beak. Happiness never felt so good.

"And thank you, you nutty dame, for giving this old jarhead a wakeup call." The penguin looped his flipper around her. For once, Marlene felt no sarcasm or wittiness to give Skipper.

She sighed again and got lost in his glossy water-proof feathers. Skipper returned his eyes to the veterinary building in time to see the vet techs leave for the night and Julien slip through a window.

"I've come to a conclusion, Marlene." The penguin suddenly voiced. Marlene quirked a brow. "Sheba's an airhead and never was a spy."

"Figured that out all by yourself?" The otter rolled her amber eyes.

"Yep." Skipper returned.

* * *

Well, kiddies, it's been a blast. I hope it was as fun to read as it was to write. And as I bid another story farewell, all I have to say is this... REVIEW! LONG LIVE ROCK! Peace...

CJzilla


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